Obama says confident US will continue commitment to NATO

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he was confident the commitment of the United States to NATO would continue, seeking to reassure allies Republican President-elect Donald Trump would maintain core US strategic interests around the world.

"Today, NATO, the world's greatest alliance, is as strong and as ready as it has ever been. And I am confident that just as America's commitment to the Translantic Alliance has endured for seven decades - whether it's been under a Democratic or a Republican administration - that commitment will continue. Including our pledge and our treaty obligation to defend every ally," Obama said during a speech in Athens.

He is on his final tour of Europe before being succeeded by Trump in January.

"Our democracies show that we are stronger than terrorists, fundamentalists and absolutists, who cannot tolerate difference... who...