The Democratic Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, accompanied by Democratic members of Congress, stressed on Tuesday 19 February the importance of transatlantic, NATO and EU relations during a visit to Brussels.
In front of the press, the members of the Congress recalled the basics, without going into the details of the relations.
"We are here reaffirming our commitment to the transatlantic alliance, NATO, our respect for the EU and our desire to work together to strengthen the alliance", Ms Pelosi said.
"We are like a family, with ups and downs, disagreements, but [...] we share the same world view [...] We want to work together", confirmed the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel. Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff highlighted "unequivocal support" from the delegation to NATO and Europe, while Gregory Meeks said Congress members will never let the "small differences" divide Americans and Europeans.
The US delegation stressed the common values and the need to cooperate in the face of Russia, China, terrorism or climate change.
Asked about her meeting with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the Chamber said that the discussion had lasted one and a half hours. "It is a word 'respect', not only to discuss our differences, but to do so in a way that recognizes the importance of all parties”, she said.
For his part, the Commission spokesman said that the meeting had been "very cordial and broad", on all issues of the transatlantic and international relationship.
According to the EEAS, Ms Pelosi and the EU High Representative, Federica Mogherini, confirmed “the crucial importance of maintaining a strong transatlantic partnership through continued cooperation and dialogue in a wide range of areas, such as trade or climate change and human rights”. Beyond international events, they discussed the complementarity of the EU's security and defence policy with NATO, and "the importance of safeguarding multilateralism and rules-based international order to promote democratic values". (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)