Signing off as America’s top diplomat, Antony Blinken was feted Wednesday by ally France — and forced to brush aside bombastic remarks by incoming president Donald Trump.
Blinken, on a farewell tour less than two weeks before Trump takes office, visited Paris where President Emmanuel Macron was presenting him with the Legion of Honor, France’s highest order of merit.
“I would like to tell you that you show the face of the America that we love,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told Blinken before the ceremony.
But as Blinken looked to highlight President Joe Biden’s efforts to nurture alliances, the secretary of state was asked to address threats by Trump against Greenland.
The president-elect has made clear his designs on oil-rich and strategically placed Greenland, an autonomous territory of European Union member Denmark, and refused to rule out military action.
Asked about the remarks at a news conference with Barrot, Blinken, without using Trump’s name, said: “The idea expressed about Greenland is obviously not a good one, but maybe more important, it’s obviously one that’s not going to happen.”
“So we probably shouldn’t waste a lot of time talking about it,” Blinken said.
– Musk ‘private citizen’ for now –
Blinken, a longtime Democratic Party policymaker and aide to Biden who generally has steered clear of electoral politics, also played down statements by Elon Musk, the technology entrepreneur joined at the hip with Trump for months.
The South African-born billionaire, who has been tasked by Trump with an initiative to curb government spending, has rattled European politicians by championing the far right in Germany and Britain.
“Private citizens in our country can say what they want,” Blinken said. “He, like any American, has the right to express his views.”
Barrot, however, took direct aim at Musk and regretted the direction of Trump’s Republican Party, which championed more traditional security partnerships with Europe under Ronald Reagan.
“Everyone has the right to express their opinions, but obviously when you’re participating or aspiring to participate in a government, opinions take on a particular meaning,” Barrot said.
Barrot said Musk was making alliances with “parties of the far right that flirt with neo-Nazi currents, as is the case with the AfD” in Germany.
“The Republican Party will have to take responsibility for linking its destiny to parties that represent what the Republican Party always fought against,” he said.
– Hoping for French leadership –
Blinken also visited South Korea and Japan on the tour and will head Thursday to Italy, where he will consult European allies on Syria and join Biden in an audience with Pope Francis.
But the visit to France, including the private ceremony for the Legion of Honor award, is especially poignant for Blinken, a fluent French speaker who spent part of his childhood in Paris and has spoken of France’s role in forming his worldview.
The decision to recognise Blinken also illustrates the full turnaround in relations since the start of Biden’s term in 2021, when France was infuriated after the United States forged a new three-way alliance with Britain and Australia that resulted in the rescinding of a lucrative contract for French submarines.
Blinken and Barrot hailed their partnership in addressing a series of hotspots including the Middle East.
Blinken pointed in particular to work between the United States and France on a ceasefire in Lebanon after Israel decimated militant group Hezbollah.
The ceasefire “is creating the possibility for a much different and much better future”, Blinken said.
With Trump expected again to push European allies to do more on security and to push for a settlement between Ukraine and Russia, Blinken hailed France’s role training Ukrainian troops as “one of the strongest examples of burden-sharing” he had seen.
“I think in the months to come, France’s leadership will be essential for ensuring that Ukraine has what it needs to be in the strongest possible position to defend its democratic independence, whether that’s on the battlefield or at the negotiating table,” Blinken said.
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