Nevertheless, pro-U.S. language has been absent from the drafts circulated so far and seen by POLITICO because of resistance from the French government, an EU official familiar with the discussions said. Greater openness toward Canada and the U.K is more likely to materialize, several diplomats said.
Šadžius cautioned against excluding the Americans. “The U.S. is […] maybe the most important member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. So they have been, are and will remain very important defense partners for the Europeans,” he said.
Lithuania’s finance minister pointed out that NATO’s defense capabilities are particularly crucial to ensure his country’s continued security against Russia.
“For all border states that are on the front line with hostile neighbors, the participation of the United States [within NATO’s framework] is absolutely crucially important.”
Separately, Šadžius described the upcoming EU-U.K. summit as “key for concluding the [defense] partnership between the U.K. and the European Union.”
The EU and the U.K will meet on Monday for a long-awaited summit that is expected to pave the way for closer security and defense relations after Brexit — provided that other thorny issues like fisheries are sorted.
A positive outcome would also speed up the approval of the SAFE regulation, since the role of the U.K is one of the key outstanding topics.
“Participation of these partners should be properly regulated in the legislative package. So that they would not be cut artificially from the defense community in Europe” Šadžius said.