Secretary of State Marco Rubio brushed aside criticism from European allies over the legality of U.S. military strikes targeting suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific during a Group of 7 foreign ministers meeting in Canada this week.
Mr. Rubio told reporters that no minister raised the issue in closed-door sessions and insisted the operations were necessary to protect U.S. national security from what the Trump administration has labeled narco-terrorist networks linked to Venezuela.
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, stated publicly that the American strikes “violate international law,” citing concern for French territories in the region.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, echoed the criticism, telling reporters the strikes lacked legal grounding and could only be justified through self-defense or a United Nations Security Council resolution.
A group of independent U.N. experts has previously described the lethal actions as potential extrajudicial executions if conducted without proper legal authority.
The Pentagon reports at least 19 strikes have killed dozens of individuals the U.S. claims were drug traffickers, though no public evidence or detailed legal rationale for choosing lethal force over arrest has been released.
Mr. Rubio rejected the objections, saying “I don’t think the European Union gets to decide what international law is” and noting that many targeted shipments ultimately reach Europe.
He maintained that the administration’s designation of certain cartels as terrorist organizations provides sufficient authority and added that allies “should be thanking us.”
Canada’s foreign minister, Anita Anand, the meeting’s host, said Ottawa assists U.S. counternarcotics efforts but has no involvement in the strikes and deferred judgment on their legality to Washington.
The G7 joint statement reaffirmed cooperation against drug trafficking but made no mention of the U.S. campaign.