November 9, 2020 — New York
President-Elect Joe Biden’s commitment to strong, cooperative relations between the United States and Europe was publicly demonstrated when he joined with 30 notable U.S., European and Canadian leaders in 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,” was published in The New York Times, in both the U.S. and International editions, in September 2018. The ad, statement and list of signatories are available at www.AJC.org/TransatlanticUnity.
“When some have been questioning the utility of the precious U.S.-European relationship, President-Elect Biden’s support for these vital ties, based on common foundational values, is reassuring,” 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 other distinguished signatories included former presidents, vice presidents, prime ministers, national security advisors, secretaries of state, and ministers of defense and foreign affairs, representing 15 countries and a range of political party affiliations. Among them, in addition to Biden, were 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. In the aftermath of the statement’s publication, another 1000-plus dignitaries, from both sides of the Atlantic, endorsed the text.
The North American and European leaders expressed their united “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.”
They proclaimed 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.
AJC, the leading global Jewish advocacy organization, with headquarters in New York, maintains offices across the U.S. and Europe, including its Transatlantic Institute in Brussels, established in 2004.
