As part of his strategy to increasingly move away from the USA and align himself with Europe, the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, met this Saturday, the 13th, with his Irish counterpart, Micheál Martin. Yesterday, I had already met the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
After today’s meeting, Carney reinforced that middle-power countries “should not compete for favors with America”. He recalled that Canada and the European Union together have a population that is more than twice that of the United States, with an economy of similar size and a collective defense budget that is twice that of China.
He asserted that smaller nations can multiply their strength by teaming up with like-minded allies. “In a world of great power rivalry, middle powers have a choice – compete for favor or come together to create an impactful third way,” said the Canadian leader.
Carney had previously made similar comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, when he condemned coercion by great powers over smaller countries.
The Canadian leader described his country and Europe as a “force for good because we safeguard the values of human rights, dignity and pluralism that our people hold dear. Together, we are one of the largest economic, cultural, technological, financial and military blocs in the world.”
“The new world order will be built starting with Europe”, added Carney, reiterating that Canada is the most European of non-European countries”.
