Canada's Carney says middle-power countries shouldn't compete for favor with US

DUBLIN, June 14, (AP): Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney continued his efforts to pivot away from the United States and allign with Europe, meeting with the leader of Ireland on Saturday ahead of the upcoming G7 summit and saying middle power countries shouldn’t compete for favor with America.

Carney said that Canada and the European Union have a combined population that is more than twice that of the United States, with a similarly sized economy and a collective defense budget that is twice that of China’s.

He said smaller nations can multiply their strength by partnering with like-minded allies. "In a world of great power rivalry, middle powers have a choice - to compete for favor or to combine to create a third path with impact,” Carney said at Trinity College in Dublin.

He made similar comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which became a symbol of middle-power resistance in January, when he declared the global rules-based order over and condemned coercion by great powers on smaller countries.

Carney visited Ireland's Taoiseach Micheál Martin earlier on Saturday and French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday ahead of the Group of Seven summit of industrialized democracies that begins on Monday in France.

US President Donald Trump leaves for the G7 summit right after he hosts UFC fights at the White House on Sunday for his 80th birthday. Trump is not currently scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Carney during the summit, according to a senior US administration official.

Carney described Canada and Europe as a ”force for good - because we safeguard the values of human rights, dignity, and pluralism that our people hold dear.” The prime minister said together, the EU and Canada are one of the largest economic, cultural, technological, financial, and military blocs in the world.

"The new world order will be built starting with Europe,” Carney said at an earlier joint news conference with Martin. "Canada is the most European of non-European countries. We are transforming our cooperation with Europe.”

In February, Canada became the first non-European member of the SAFE mechanism, the European Union’s defense procurement initiative. Carney, on this ninth trip to Europe since become prime minister 15 months ago, noted Canada 56 partnerships in the critical minerals sector across more than 10 countries, primarily in Europe.