EU Invites Trump To Summit, Warns Against 'isolation'

BRUSSELS, Nov 9, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 09th Nov, 2016 ) - The EU's top leaders on Wednesday invited US President-elect Donald Trump to a summit as soon as possible as they warned of uncertainty in relations and a need to respect democratic values.

"I do not believe that any country today can be great in isolation," European Council chief Donald Tusk told reporters in Brussels, referring to Trump's campaign slogan of "Make America Great Again".

"Europe and the United States simply have no option but to cooperate as closely as possible." Tusk and European Commission boss Jean-Claude Juncker said in a letter that they wanted to discuss "unprecedented challenges" including the IS group, the conflict in Ukraine, and a troubled EU-US trade deal under negotiation.

"We would take this opportunity to invite you to visit Europe for an EU-US summit at your earliest convenience. This conversation would allow for us to chart the course of our relations for the next four years," they said in a letter of congratulations to Trump.

But former Polish prime minister Tusk struck a more sober tone in a statement to journalists at the 28-nation European Union's headquarters as he recalled that "Italians, Irish, Poles, Germans, Spanish" had helped build America.