Canada, Europe not 'destined to submit' to 'brutal' new world order: Carney

YEREVAN, May 4: European leaders talked up independence on defence and closer ties with Canada Monday, as they gathered in Armenia for a summit clouded by US threats to cut military support.

US President Donald Trump loomed large over the meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) in Yerevan, which was for the first time attended by a non-European leader: Canada's Mark Carney.

"We don't think that we're destined to submit to a more transactional insular and brutal world and gatherings such as these point to a better way forward," the Canadian prime minister told fellow leaders.

Trump's go-it-alone policies on trade and defence have pushed Canada and Europe closer together, with both now confronting the economic fallout from the US-Israeli war on Iran which has further strained transatlantic ties.

The Armenia gathering comes days after Washington announced it would pull 5,000 US troops from Germany, whose leader, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, has sparred with Trump over the Middle East conflict.

"We have to step up our military capabilities to be able to defend and protect ourselves," EU chief Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Yerevan. The bloc needed "more independence" in security matters, she added.    �"AFP