BRUSSELS: Angela Merkel led a sharp European response to US president-elect Donald Trump on Monday after he branded the Nato alliance “obsolete” and criticised the German chancellor’s open-door refugee policy.

In a hard-hitting interview with two European newspapers, Trump unleashed a volley of verbal attacks on Europe, hailing Britain’s decision to leave the European Union and saying more countries were going to quit the bloc.

With fears growing in Europe over Trump’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance and over signs he will pivot towards Russia, Merkel warned that the continent now had to take responsibility for itself.

“We Europeans have our fate in our own hands,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin when asked about Trump’s criticisms, adding that she will work towards getting the EU to strengthen the economy and fight terrorism.

Germany’s foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Europe was stunned by Trump’s remarks on Nato, just five days ahead of the billionaire businessman’s inauguration as president.

“The interview statements of the American president-elect... caused, indeed here in Brussels, astonishment and agitation,” Steinmeier said as he went from a meeting with Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg to talks with EU counterparts.

France’s top diplomat Jean-Marc Ayrault said “the best response” to Trump’s comments was “the unity of Europeans”.

Trump’s latest remarks have in particular caused further consternation among eastern European Nato countries nervous about Moscow following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and involvement in Ukraine.

“I said a long time ago that Nato had problems,” Trump told The Times of London and Bild, Germany’s biggest-selling daily, on Friday.

“Number one, it was obsolete, because it was designed many, many years ago,” he said, referring to its Cold War, post-World War II origins. “Number two, the countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to pay.” On the campaign trail, Trump said he would think twice about helping Nato allies if the United States was not “reasonably reimbursed” for the costs of defending them — a common source of friction in the US-led 28-nation alliance.

Nato chief Stoltenberg reiterated that he had full confidence in the US commitment to Europe. “He is absolutely confident that the incoming US administration will remain committed to Nato,” spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.

Trump further extended a hand to Russia, which has been hit by a string of sanctions under President Barack Obama over Moscow’s involvement in Ukraine, the Syrian war and for suspected cyber attacks to influence the US election.

“Let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia,” Trump said, suggesting in vague terms a deal in which nuclear arsenals would be reduced and sanctions against Moscow would be eased.

Underscoring the Obama administration’s very different stance, US Vice-President Joe Biden made a farewell trip to Ukraine on Monday to show support for the war-scarred country.

In another comment that alarmed the Europeans, Trump meanwhile refused to say that he trusted Merkel more than Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom the next US president has often expressed admiration.

“Well, I start off trusting both - but let’s see how long that lasts. It may not last long at all,” he said.

Trump also directly criticised Merkel for letting Germany admit undocumented migrants into the country, insinuating that this posed a security risk following a wave of jihadist attacks in Europe.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2017