Austrian President Alexander Van Der Bellen Says Europe Must Not 'Dance To Trump's Tune'

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said in a Monday interview with Die Welt newspaper that European countries must be more independent from the United States and not succumb to Washington's pressure when it came to decision-making over divisive issues

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th March, 2019) Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said in a Monday interview with Die Welt newspaper that European countries must be more independent from the United States and not succumb to Washington's pressure when it came to decision-making over divisive issues.

"US President [Donald] Trump withdrew without any reason from the nuclear deal with Iran, in the framework of which Washington has been participating in negotiations for years and a signatory to which it remained; and then banned European companies from doing business with Iran at risk of [falling under] serious sanctions. I think it is too much. Europeans must not dance to Trump's tune," the president said during the interview.

Van der Bellen stressed that Europe must have a more independent stance on other issues that cause disagreements between the two allies.

Last May, Trump announced that the United States would be withdrawing from the Iran deal, officially dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), over Iran's alleged violations.

The deal provided for sanctions relief for Iran in exchange for the country ensuring its nuclear program remained peaceful. Now that the United States was no longer party to the JCPOA, it reinstated its previously lifted sanction on Tehran.

The remaining JCPOA signatories, which include the European Union, have not backed Washington's move, maintaining that Iran complies with its part of the deal. With regard to the sanctions, which are aimed discouraging companies from trading with Iran and damaging the country's economy, the signatories created a special mechanism to bypass the restrictions and pursue business with Iran.

The United States has also been trying to browbeat European countries that are part of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction into abandoning the project over its alleged threats to European security. At the same time, Washington has been desperately trying to force Russian natural gas out of Europe and sell its own liquefied natural gas at higher prices.