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The Trump administration has accused Europe of being an “incubator” for terrorism fuelled by mass migration, in a new counter-terrorism strategy unveiled on Wednesday.
The strategy also focuses on rooting out “violent left-wing extremists” including “radically pro-transgender” groups, as Trump’s conservative administration steps up its political attacks on opponents.
It also further places drug cartels in the Americas at the centre of counter-terrorism efforts.
But some of its strongest language is reserved for Europe, home to numerous US allies who will be alarmed to see their continent in the Trump administration’s crosshairs once again.
“It is clear to all that well-organised hostile groups exploit open borders and related globalist ideals. The more these alien cultures grow, and the longer current European policies persist, the more terrorism is guaranteed,” the strategy said.
“As the birthplace of Western culture and values, Europe must act now and halt its willful decline,” said the strategy, led by counter-terrorism coordinator Sebastian Gorka.
The report said that European nations remained the US’s “preeminent and long-term counterterrorism partners”, but stated: “The world is safer when Europe is strong, but Europe is greatly threatened and is both a terror target and an incubator of terror threats.”
The fresh criticism of Europe comes just months after Trump’s new national security strategy said the continent faced “civilizational erasure” due to immigration.
Trump has also recently lashed out at European Nato allies for failing to help with his war on Iran.
Trump’s administration has moved aggressively to reshape the western hemisphere region with the ouster of Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela’s president, dozens of US military strikes on alleged drug boats operated by cartels and new pressure on the communist government of Cuba.
The administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters has persisted since early September and killed at least 191 people in total.
At the same time, Trump has sought to press regional leaders to work more closely with the US to target cartels and take military action themselves against drug traffickers and transnational gangs that he says pose an “unacceptable threat” to the hemisphere’s national security.
Gorka said administration officials would meet with allies later this week to discuss how they can bolster their counter-terrorism strategies.
“As the president made very clear, we will measure your seriousness as a partner and ally by how much you bring to the table,” he told reporters, adding that the US expects “more” from its partners.
Left-wing groups remain a major preoccupation for the Republican president’s administration, and the strategy targets what it calls “violent Left-Wing Extremists, including Anarchists and Anti-Fascists.”
It says US counter-terrorism efforts will “prioritize the rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist.”
Since his return to power last year, Trump has demonised any recognition of gender diversity and transgender people.
He regularly boasts about how his administration has banned transwoman from women’s sports and shortly after his inauguration signed an executive order proclaiming that there are only two genders.
With Agency France-Presse and Associated Press
