Tusk to Pence: let's not pretend that everything is as it used to be

US Vice President Mike Pence, met with the European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels and pledged the US commitment to the EU. “Whatever our differences, our two continents share the same heritage, the same values and above all the same purpose, to promote peace and prosperity through freedom, democracy and the rule of law, and to those objectives we will remain committed,” Pence said at the press conference. Tusk reaffirmed the EU's commitment to the United States as well, but acknowledged the relationship between the two bodies had changed. “Too much has happened over the past months in your country, and in the EU; too many new and sometimes surprising opinions have been voiced over this time about our relations and our common security for us to pretend that everything is as it used to be,” he said. During the presidential campaign Trump repeatedly expressed his approval of Britain's exit from the EU and predicted a further splintering of the bloc. In January, Trump said the EU was “basically a vehicle for Germany.” Still, Tusk claimed that the EU and the US are on the same page when it comes to international order, security and the US position on the EU. “In reply to these three matters, I heard today from Vice President Pence three times 'yes.' After such a positive declaration, both Europeans and Americans must simply practice what they preach. The reports of the death of the West have been greatly exaggerated. Whoever wants to demolish that order, anticipating a posy-west order, must know that in its defense we will remain determined,” Tusk concluded. Earlier in the week in Munich, Pence expressed the U.S. commitment to NATO while acknowledging the United States seeks to establish stronger ties with Russia. He reaffirmed that commitment Monday after meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, and repeated Trump's stance that other NATO members must pay their share. "As our country continues to make investments in Europe's security, we see European countries falling behind," Pence said Monday. "I don't know what the answer is to 'or else,' but I know that the patience of the American people will not endure forever."