Europe should speak with one voice on refugee crisis: U.S. official

NATO's responsibility is counteracting threats in the east and in the south, as well as increased rotary military presence in the eastern flank, visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said here on Thursday.

Blinken discussed the upcoming NATO Summit in Warsaw with Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski and Presidential Minister Krzysztof Szczerski.

During his speech in Warsaw, Blinken said that the current threats require engagement and responsibility of each NATO member state.

He reminded that during the upcoming military exercises held in Poland, 25,000 of ally countries' soldiers will take part.

"We'll continue our engagement by fourfold increase in expenditures, from 790 million to 3,4 billion dollars, therefore we'll be able to Keep the whole equipped division in Europe," Blinken said. "In eastern flank, a heavy brigade combat team of 4,000 soldiers will be placed, ensuring a fluent rotary military presence in Europe."

Blinken referred to the Ukrainian crisis, saying sanctions against Russia should be kept until the throughout fulfillment of the Minsk agreement. He also commented on energy security, saying that the implementation of Nord Stream 2 project "could undermine Europe's efforts to ensure energy sources diversification."

Blinken also commented on the refugee crisis, saying Europe should speak with one voice and jointly take responsibility for this problem. Endit