“If you are not an actor, others play in your place.” High Representative Josep Borrell joins voices urging the EU to strengthen its capabilities “at home” to deal with the possible consequences of Donald Trump’s return to the White House. And the head of European diplomacy is focusing on Ukraine, fearing that the populist leader will turn off the aid spigot and promote an end to the war, which essentially means kyiv’s surrender to Vladimir Putin.
“If you are not at the geopolitical table, you will be on the menu. “Ukraine must be on the table, not on the menu,” Borrell said upon arrival at the informal meeting of EU leaders in Budapest, where they are analyzing the recipes their proposed by former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. to strengthen competitiveness. The former president of the European Central Bank assured that his recommendations “became even more urgent after the elections in the United States”. “There is no doubt that Trump’s presidency will make a big difference in relations between the United States and Europe,” warned Draghi, conceding that it does not necessarily have to have a “negative” impact.
But what all European leaders agree on is that the old continent must be prepared and depend on itself. “The only recipe for survival is to be more united and build a stronger and more sovereign Europe, capable of facing the challenges of the world without entrusting our security to anyone else,” Borrell said.
“Europeans must be more united. Each of us does not count alone in the world, in a world of giants,” continued Borrell, who stressed the need to strengthen security and technological capabilities. And for this, warned the Catalan politician, it does not matter what happens in “other houses”: “What matters is what happens in our house”.
Despite the concern that Trump’s new mandate in the EU represents due to the uncertainty caused by its lack of predictability and the possible economic consequences of a worsening of the trade war, the message that the leaders of the 27 are trying to sending is a message of tranquility. .and confidence in their own abilities.
“Our economies are strong, our countries have sophisticated defense systems and we represent something (…). If we decide to be conscious of what we represent geopolitically and commercially, that is incredible power. There is no other market of 700 million people as united by the history of interests and values as the one that brings us together around this table,” encouraged Frenchman Emmanuel Macron on Thursday to his counterparts sitting within the European Political Community, which brings together EU countries and their eastern neighbors as well as the United Kingdom.
“We must be more masters of our destiny, not because of Kamala Harris or Trump, but because of our children,” said European Council President Charles Michel. “Europe cannot change the world, but it can change itself to face a changing world,” said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mytsotakis. “Europe is ready to take care of itself, also from a security point of view,” declared Belgian Alexander de Croo before a meeting that became a kind of group therapy.
