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Russia continues to seek to redraw international borders by force, Mr. Pence said. And here in the western Balkans, Russia has worked to destabilize the region, undermine your democracies and divide you from each other and from the rest of Europe.

He added, The western Balkans have the right to decide your own future, and that is your right alone.

Mr. Pences tone on trans-Atlantic relations was far more reassuring than that of President Trump, who once called NATO obsolete, castigated allies for not spending more on defense and characterized the European Union as a tool of German influence.

Mr. Pence hewed on Wednesday to a more traditional American view of NATO and the European Union as bulwarks of Western democracy. Whether your future is in NATO, the European Union or both, the United States supports you because either path will strengthen Europe, he told the Balkan leaders.

As to Mr. Trumps nationalist outlook, Mr. Pence said, America first does not mean America alone.

Montenegros invitation to join NATO comes at a time of high tension between the alliance and Russia.

Yet Jonathan D. Katz, a former State Department official who is now at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, expressed skepticism about Mr. Pences performance.

While his message of greater security support and further European-Atlantic integration should be of great relief to these countries, it is tainted by Trumps continued embrace of Putin and deep cuts in U.S. assistance to the Western Balkans, Mr. Katz said in an email, referring to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

Along with Prime Minister Dusko Markovic of Montenegro, the leaders present included the prime minister of Albania, the chairman of the council of ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the prime minister of Croatia, the president of Kosovo, the prime minister of Macedonia, the prime minister of Slovenia and the prime minister of Serbia.

Of the eight countries, two Croatia and Slovenia are members of the European Union. Four of them Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia belong to NATO.

Seven of the eight countries at the summit meeting (all but Albania) emerged out of the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Montenegro gained independence from Serbia in 2006, but Kosovo, which declared its own independence in 2008 with American backing, is not recognized by Serbia or its historic patron, Russia.

Mr. Pence did not dwell on the past.

You belong to a new generation of Balkan leaders, and this is a historic moment for progress in the western Balkans, he said on Wednesday. I urge you with great respect to make the most of this moment.

Several of the leaders are, like Mr. Pence, fairly new to their jobs: Croatias prime minister, Andrej Plenkovic, 47, a former diplomat and member of the European Parliament, took office last October; Macedonias prime minister, Zoran Zaev, 42, in May; and Serbias prime minister, Ana Brnabic, 41, the first woman and first openly gay person to hold that position, in June.

Albanias prime minister, Edi Rama, 53, a former artist and basketball player, showed up for the summit meeting in white sneakers.

Mr. Pence is the highest-ranking American official in a century to visit Montenegro, a small country on the Adriatic Sea, and the first vice president to do so. Montenegro was the final stop of a trip that took Mr. Pence to Estonia, where he reassured leaders of the Baltic States, and Georgia, which fought a brief war with Russia in 2008.

Echoing a point made by Montenegros prime minister, the vice president said: NATO is made up of large countries and small countries, but the U.S. has no small allies and we cherish our new alliance with Montenegro through NATO.

At a NATO summit meeting in May, Mr. Trump was recorded on video appearing to shove his way past Mr. Markovic while making his way to the front of the group for a photograph of the alliances leaders. Mr. Markovic, who smiled and let Mr. Trump pass, did not appear offended, but many observers expressed outrage.

On Wednesday, there was no shoving.

Follow Sewell Chan on Twitter @sewellchan.

A version of this article appears in print on August 3, 2017, on Page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: Pence, Critical of Russias Aims, Assures Balkan Leaders of U.S. Support.

Original post:
Mike Pence, in Montenegro, Assures Balkans of US Support - New York Times

Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday that healthcare reform "ain't over by a long shot."

Pence spoke about the need for both healthcare and tax reform at the Tennessee GOP 2017 Statesmen's Dinner at Music City Center in Nashville. While healthcare reform stalled in the Senate last week, Pence remains optimistic the GOP can revisit the issue before the end of the year.

"This ain't over by a long shot...we won't rest until we end the Obamacare nightmare once and for all," Pence said, according to a press pool report. "We're going to keep fighting until Congress sends a bill to his desk to repeal and replace Obamacare."

Pence echoed the sentiment of his boss, President Trump, who has taken to Twitter to pressure Senate Republicans not to give up on healthcare reform.

Some recent press reports have indicated tax reform won't be addressed until 2018, with upcoming votes to raise the debt ceiling acting as potential roadblocks. Pence, however, said the administration aims to have comprehensive tax reform legislation passed this year.

"Next up we're going to pass the biggest tax cut since the days of Ronald Reagan," Pence said. "We're going to cut taxes, and we're going to cut taxes this year."

See original here:
Mike Pence: Healthcare reform fight 'ain't over by a long shot' - Washington Examiner

wbur Representatives Mike Pence, R-Ind. and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. speak with reporters outside the White House after meeting with President Bush, Wednesday, April 27, 2005, in Washington. (Lawrence Jackson/AP)

On this week's Freak Out and Carry On, co-host Ron Suskind asked Senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) what a possible Mike Pence presidency would look like. Flake responded "I just think the world of Mike and his family and I think that he would be a good president." Read the excerpt below and listen to the full episode:

Suskind: Going back to those days when you arrive in 2001, of course your kindred and colleague was [Vice President] Mike Pence. There is actually a conservative in the White House right now, Mike Pence. Tell us what a Pence presidency would look like because you know as well as I do there are people thinking about that right now. How could they not.

Flake: Well I am let me just say I admire Mike Pence a lot. I've known him since the '90s when we both ran conservative think tanks. And I just think the world of Mike and his family and I think that he would be a good president. One, Mike is, as you've seen, just kind and generous to a fault. And I can never see him using the kind of language that's been used. So I think that in terms of demeanor and comportment, then he would be quite a different president.

Suskind: And and if he offer you the vice presidency would you take it?

Flake: (laughs) I'm not going there! I think the world of Mike Pence.

See original here:
Sen. Flake On Pence: 'I Think That He Would Be A Good President' - WBUR

BBC News

Mike Pence reassures Baltic states over Russia 'threat' BBC News US Vice-President Mike Pence has reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the security of the Baltic states if they face any aggression from Russia. Speaking in Estonia, he called Russia their biggest security threat, telling the Nato allies: "An attack ... Vice President Mike Pence: Russian 'Aggression' Makes NATO NecessaryNBCNews.com Mike Pence Wants Sanctions to Change Russia's 'Behavior' As Putin Orders Expulsion Of Hundreds of US Diplomatic ...Newsweek Pence vows US resistance to Russia during Estonia visitWashington Times Washington Examiner -Aljazeera.com all 233 news articles »

Read the original here:
Mike Pence reassures Baltic states over Russia 'threat' - BBC News

When Vice President Mike Pence addressed a joint U.S.-Georgian force in Russia's front yard Tuesday, he presented a united front. "The president and Congress are unified in our message to Russia," Pence told the allied troops.

It was an authoritative, bold, even presidential message. And it lasted less than 48 hours.

Any of those soldiers on Twitter this morning watched that united front crumble in less than 140 characters. "Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low," Trump tweeted, "You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!"

Coming the day after the president signed a veto-proof bill from Congress instituting new sanctions against Russia, this is the very definition of off-message.

More than most, this presidential tweet should be especially embarrassing in context. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev described Trump as an "incompetent player" yesterday and this morning the American proved the Russian right. After all, who else would sign a major piece of legislation into law, send their vice president across the Atlantic to talk tough, and then undercut the entire operation with a single tweet?

But by now, diplomatic discomfiture should be the least concern. What's more significant is this administration's dangerous and increasingly frequent habit of talking out of two sides of its mouth. For instance, asking Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders about North Korea will result in three very different answers.

Of course, as some will protest, there is no reason to reveal American strategy ahead of time. After rightly knocking his predecessor for telegraphing his diplomatic and military plans, Trump promises to keep his geopolitical foes in the dark. And that's fine, but his administration is also keeping its own allies guessing.

Whether or not the president has a case, regardless of whether Congress is to blame for deteriorating Russian relations, the common sense move would be to keep quiet. The longer Trump does otherwise, the more likely he is to humiliate his staff, prove himself incompetent, and endanger national security.

Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.

See more here:
Trump just contradicted Vice President Mike Pence on the world stage - Washington Examiner