AIRLINK 189.36 Increased By ▲ 1.33 (0.71%)
BOP 11.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.76 (-6.41%)
CNERGY 7.28 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-3.45%)
FCCL 36.65 Decreased By ▼ -1.14 (-3.02%)
FFL 14.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.29 (-1.9%)
FLYNG 26.19 Increased By ▲ 0.66 (2.59%)
HUBC 130.89 Increased By ▲ 0.74 (0.57%)
HUMNL 13.47 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-1.03%)
KEL 4.28 Decreased By ▼ -0.07 (-1.61%)
KOSM 6.08 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.46%)
MLCF 45.94 Increased By ▲ 0.26 (0.57%)
OGDC 201.86 Decreased By ▼ -4.57 (-2.21%)
PACE 6.12 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-4.08%)
PAEL 38.36 Decreased By ▼ -1.95 (-4.84%)
PIAHCLA 16.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.22 (-1.3%)
PIBTL 7.94 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.12%)
POWER 9.86 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-1.69%)
PPL 173.46 Decreased By ▼ -5.38 (-3.01%)
PRL 34.73 Decreased By ▼ -1.63 (-4.48%)
PTC 23.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.44 (-1.8%)
SEARL 101.74 Decreased By ▼ -1.42 (-1.38%)
SILK 1.07 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
SSGC 32.70 Decreased By ▼ -3.54 (-9.77%)
SYM 17.93 Decreased By ▼ -0.30 (-1.65%)
TELE 8.14 Decreased By ▼ -0.24 (-2.86%)
TPLP 12.02 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-1.15%)
TRG 67.40 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (0.1%)
WAVESAPP 11.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.21 (-1.75%)
WTL 1.52 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-3.18%)
YOUW 3.90 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.26%)
BR100 11,819 Decreased By -87.9 (-0.74%)
BR30 35,000 Decreased By -554.1 (-1.56%)
KSE100 112,085 Decreased By -478.8 (-0.43%)
KSE30 34,946 Decreased By -148 (-0.42%)

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday he expected European allies to keep up strong support for NATO despite a far-right victory in the first round of French elections.

Blinken steered clear of commenting directly when asked about the triumph of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party but pointed more broadly to NATO’s strengthening since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The alliance is moving to make sure that we have the right defenses across the alliance where they’re needed, where they matter,” Blinken said at the Brookings Institution.

“This has been a clear trajectory for the last three and a half years. I don’t actually see that changing irrespective of the politics of the moment in Europe,” he said.

“We have very strong allies, very strong partners,” he said, pointing in particular to Italy — led by its most right-wing leader since World War II, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has bucked some of her political allies by supporting Ukraine.

Since Russia’s invasion, NATO has added two new members — Finland and Sweden — taking its total to 32, and 23 of them now meet a goal set a decade ago of spending two percent of GDP on defense.

France’s National Rally has long been tainted by its relationship with Russia but its leader Jordan Bardella, who could become the next prime minister, said in a recent debate that he would not let Russia “absorb an allied state like Ukraine.”

NATO holds a 75th anniversary summit in Washington next week which comes in the shadow of criticism of the alliance from Republican presidential contender Donald Trump.

Comments

Comments are closed.