European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday the United States is "no longer interested in guaranteeing Europe's security in our place", saying the bloc had to push for more defence and security cooperation on its own.

"Our deference to NATO can no longer be used as a convenient alibi to argue against greater European efforts," Juncker told a conference in Prague. "We have no other choice than to defend our own interests in the Middle East, in climate change, in our trade agreements."

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