U.S., European and Canadian Leaders Join AJC Initiative Reaffirming Transatlantic Ties

NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Notable U.S., European and Canadian political and diplomatic leaders have signed an American Jewish Committee (AJC) statement of support for the Transatlantic Partnership and the core values that bind North America and Europe together.

The full statement, "Reaffirming the Transatlantic Partnership – A Pledge of Unity and Resolve," with the initial 31 signatories, is published today in The New York Times, in both the U.S. and International editions. The ad, statement and full list of signatories also are available at www.AJC.org/TransatlanticUnity.

"Americans and Europeans are joined at the hip by common foundational values and common existential threats, and thus by a common agenda," said AJC CEO David Harris. "The ties that link this precious fraternity of kindred nations must never be permitted to fray, for they represent the best hope for the ultimate realization of a genuinely peaceful and prosperous world."

The distinguished signatories include former presidents, vice presidents, prime ministers, national security advisors, secretaries of state, and ministers of defense and foreign affairs, representing 15 countries. Among them are Vice President Joe Biden, Secretaries of State George Shultz and Madeleine Albright, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.

"We are grateful inheritors of the postwar regime of transatlantic security bestowed on us by visionary American and European leaders, who were inspired by common values and united against common threats," declare the U.S., European and Canadian leaders in the statement. "We rise in defense of the precious alliance of democracies—and its treaties, institutions and norms—that has sustained peace and generated prosperity from the Cold War to the present day."

"As students of history, we know all too well the terrible price that has been paid when these principles were not respected and protected," the statement continues. "Resolved to preserve our essential alliance…we use this occasion, when basic assumptions are being challenged and, at times, debased, to recommit to the shared ideals and precepts on which our nations have relied since the end of the Second World War."

The North American and European leaders proclaim to reaffirm:

• Our commitment to the rules-based international order, in which unprovoked violations of borders are punished, legal mechanisms are empowered to address global challenges while honoring national sovereignty, and standards are maintained to safeguard universal human rights;
• Our confidence in NATO – the indispensable bulwark of peace and security for almost 70 years – and our appreciation of the organization's inestimable strategic value to the United States and its 28 transatlantic allies;
• Our respect for the European Union, which – from its inception as the European Coal and Steel Community to its current 28-member configuration – has kept historically fractious Europe whole and free, and proven to be the most ambitious and successful peace project in modern history;
• Our determination to assure the integrity of the West's intelligence, law enforcement and security agencies, on whose professionalism, cooperation and responsiveness we all rely to protect us from dangers both foreign and domestic, of state and non-state origin;
• Our defense of democracy and our support of appropriate measures to counter appeals to extremism, xenophobia and all forms of bigotry; uphold a free and independent press; thwart and deter cyberattacks; and block attempts at electoral interference.

Other current and former political and diplomatic leaders are encouraged to join this initiative by going to  www.AJC.org/TransatlanticUnity.

AJC, the premier global Jewish organization, with headquarters in New York, maintains offices across the U.S. and Europe, including its Transatlantic Institute in Brussels, established in 2004.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

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