“Europe needs to show Washington it exists, and not fear being marginalized on the world stage,” Spanish Foreign Minister and EU Council President Miguel Angel Moratinos said on Thursday after US President Barack Obama pulled out of a scheduled EU-US summit in May.

Europe today is always on the defensive, but it must not fear the G2, he added, referring to the US and China.

Moratinos—whose country holds the EU presidency—sought to play down the importance of Obama's decision not to attend the planned summit, which some observers have seen as a snub, or perhaps worse, a lack of interest in hearing what Europe has to say.

The scheduled visit by Obama had been a high point on the Spanish EU presidency calendar.

-AFP/NOW Lebanon