New US President-elect will take office in a different geopolitical context than in his first term - Canadian foreign minister

RIGA - The newly elected US President Donald Trump, the Republican Party's nominee, will take office in a different geopolitical situation than during his first term - from 2017 to 2021, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told reporters at a press conference in Riga on Monday after the 3+1 meeting of Baltic and Canadian foreign ministers.

She underlined that Canada had already worked with the Trump administration in the past during the first presidency, and that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a successful meeting with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida on Friday, November 29.

According to Joly, the meeting lasted more than three hours and covered a wide range of issues - trade, the border, the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East, energy. She stressed that this type of dialogue would continue in the future.

The Canadian Foreign Minister stressed that since Trump's first presidency, Russia has illegally invaded Ukraine, while NATO has become stronger and strengthened the defense of its members. She mentioned that Canada has increased its defense spending and will continue to do so.

Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze (New Unity) noted that the country has had a "wonderful working relationship" with all US administrations and Latvia looks forward to working with the new Trump administration. She noted that Latvia and other countries need to invest in defense, contribute to collective security and support Ukraine, because the US needs allies.

Braze explained that the cooperation between Russia, China, North Korea and Iran in the context of the war in Ukraine is a signal that countries are uniting and supporting Russia. According to the Latvian Foreign Minister, it is no secret that China and Russia in different regions of the world are trying to present themselves in a more positive light - as benefactors on a global scale. In her view, if you look at how China and Russia are exploiting Africa and other countries for their resources, you can see that the promises made to these countries are not being kept.

"It is clear that Russia is an imperialist and colonialist state and the invasion of Ukraine is a clear example of that, and other countries, while supporting Russia's actions, are also retaliating," said the Latvian Foreign Minister.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhna pointed out that during the first Trump administration he was the country's defense minister and there were various speculations about what the new administration would be like and what would happen, but during the first presidency Estonia received more security support than ever before.

Tsakhna stressed that cooperation with the US would not change. He mentioned that Estonia has been working with the US to strengthen transatlantic relations for a long time and that the links established are strong not only bilaterally, but also at the EU-US level.

The Estonian Foreign Minister noted that the situation has changed radically. In his view, we are in the same situation as we were in 1938, before the Munich Agreement, when an agreement was concluded allowing Germany to annex the Sudetenland, a German-populated area belonging to Czechoslovakia.

Tsakhna noted that the problem is not only Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is also about how it will change the world, what the future of the world will look like, whether countries will be able to defend democratic principles, international law and agreements.

"The US has been at the forefront of defending these values since the 1930s. I have also said publicly in the past that Trump has the potential to become a modern-day Winston Churchill, or an equivalent," said the Estonian Foreign Minister.

Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Egidijus Meilunas pointed out that the two countries have a transatlantic partnership and very close cooperation in many areas such as security, defense, economy. He noted that Lithuania has managed to increase its trade with the US over the past years. Lithuania will continue to cooperate with the US in many different areas, Meilunas said.