NATO member Turkey urged Europe on Monday to “assume greater responsibilities” for its own security rather than rely on the United States for protection.
“The war in Ukraine and the shifting strategic priorities of the United States leave Europe no choice but to assume greater responsibilities for its own security,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a conference in Lisbon, according to a statement sent to AFP by a foreign ministry source.
“As Europeans, we are all in the same boat. Ensuring the security of our own home is an existential necessity. We cannot delegate our security to others,” he stressed.
But Fidan said his country — a candidate to join the European Union — was being kept at arm’s length by the bloc.
“Despite its formal commitments to cooperate with non-EU allies, Turkey has been excluded for years from the EU’s security and defence frameworks,” he said.
“The reason is clear. The narrow national agendas of a few member states have taken Europe’s broader strategic interests hostage,” he continued.
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