[ooyala code=”xka2VtNzE69zzIamIqSxBEGdIb9nL4xF” player_id=”1b17bdeb76cb4ac7b9d901fad6010bb6″ width=”1920″ height=”1080″ auto=”true”] Outgoing United States (U.S.) President, Barack Obama, visited Greece yesterday to bring to Europe much sought assurances about the U.S. commitment to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) under the presidency of Donald Trump.

Before leaving the United States, Obama said President-elect Trump told him he intends to maintain America’s core strategic relationships.

Athens is the first stop on Obama’s last foreign trip as president.

After talks with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Obama commended Greece for its financial commitment to NATO, VOA reported.

“I want to take this opportunity to commend Greece on being one of the NATO allies that spends two per cent of its GDP on defence, a goal we’ve constituently set but not everybody has met. Greece has done it during even difficult economic times. If Greece can meet this economic commitment, all of our allies should be able to do so,” he said.

Earlier, Obama stressed that a “strong, prosperous and unified Europe is not only good for the people of Europe but also good for the world, and for the United States.”

Before leaving the White House on Monday, President Obama said Trump had expressed to him a “great interest” in maintaining America’s core strategic relations. “And so, one of the messages I will be able to deliver is his commitment to NATO and the Transatlantic Alliance,” Obama said.

The outgoing U.S. leader said he would let European allies know “there is no weakening of resolve when it comes to America’s commitment to maintaining a strong and robust NATO relationship.”

European leaders, alarmed by Trump’s campaign statements on U.S. commitments, have been anxious for clarification.

Trump’s campaign remarks have also fueled ongoing efforts to establish a European defence force separate from NATO.

At a gathering of EU foreign and defence ministers in Brussels on Monday, they spoke of a more urgent need to set up their own collective defence arrangement in the face of what, in the view of some European leaders, could be a new era of American isolationism.

Ministers on Monday agreed on a defence plan that would, for the first time, allow EU nations to send rapid response forces overseas.

“Europe needs to be able to act for its own security,” said French Defence Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian.

“Given Trump’s attacks on America’s long-standing security ties in Europe and Asia, U.S. allies have ample reason to worry about the credibility of America’s commitments to their security going forward,” Peter Trubowitz, head of the U.S. Centre at the London School of Economics, wrote after the U.S. election.