U.S. Government

From a point high on a mountain side, a forward observer looks up from his laser range finder and radios target coordinates to unseen support troops on the ground. Several kilometers away, a joint team of U.S. Soldiers and Marines receives the coordinates, calculates firing trajectory, and gives the order for fire teams to send a volley of 120mm mortar rounds skyward. The entire process takes a matter of minutes, making proper communication and team cohesiveness paramount.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki on Kampala Peace Talks, DRC cessation.

While the six Eastern Partnership countries have responded in various ways to the EU’s offer to integrate into Europe’s common structures, the United States strongly supports the process as a key ingredient in our effort to cement a “Europe whole and free and at peace” – a shared policy goal of the United States and EU member states since the Berlin Wall fell almost 25 years ago.

But today, as a Transatlantic community, we are standing at another vital inflection point in our ability to play that essential role, both at home and abroad.