Polish foreign minister says EU must prepare for US strategic pivot towards Asia

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) – European countries must prepare for a new US defense strategy regardless of the results of the US presidential election in November, Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski said Tuesday.

In an interview with Politico, Sikorski said: “Europe has no other choice than to prepare for a change in responsibility for defense. The United States will remain a strategic partner of the EU, but at the same time European countries must take greater responsibility for defense spending,” he said.

He also referred to growing concerns among Washington's European allies after Joe Biden resigned from the presidential race. “We will, of course, work with every democratically elected leader of our greatest ally. We are in contact with both sides of the political spectrum,” said Sikorski in Brussels.

"It is our job to explain to our US partners that as long as we are feeling Russia's threat, we won't be able to engage fully there," he said - referring to Asia, where European countries have significantly fewer forces deployed there than the US.

Politico noted the US' pivot towards Asia is becoming a deeper trend in US foreign policy and has been ongoing under Democrat as well as Republican presidents.

Sikorski's office prepared a five-page document on the state of the transatlantic relationship, calling on EU and national leaders to adapt their behavior to the shift. On July 22, the EU Foreign Affairs Council held a meeting in Brussels. As reported on the website of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the main topics of the meeting were Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East.