EU chief sees Trump announcements as threats
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Small business leaders applauded President Donald Trump after he signed an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday. Trump’s order is aimed at significantly cutting regulations. White House officials are calling the directive a “one in, two out” plan.
BRUSSELS >> The leader of the European Union put longtime ally the United States in a “threat” category today, insisting that President Donald Trump is contributing to the “highly unpredictable” outlook for the bloc.
In a letter to 27 EU leaders before Friday’s summit in Malta, EU President Donald Tusk mentioned the Trump administration as part of an external “threat” together with China, Russia, radical Islam, war and terror.
Echoing statements from many European capitals, he said that those global challenges, “as well as worrying declarations by the new American administration, all make our future highly unpredictable.”
He said that “particularly the change in Washington puts the European Union in a difficult situation; with the new administration seeming to put into question the last 70 years of American foreign policy.”
This year marks the centennial of the U.S. entry in World War I, and it marked the beginning of the American century as well as the enduring trans-Atlantic bond with Europe. Tensions have risen though since Trump was elected U.S. president.
Trump has questioned the NATO alliance linking North America and Europe, and hopes for a major trans-Atlantic trade deal have already taken a deep dive amid worries of U.S. protectionism.
“We should remind our American friends of their own motto: United we stand, divided we fall,” Tusk said in the letter and also told a news conference in Tallinn, Estonia, after meeting with the three Baltic prime ministers before the Malta summit.
Britain wasn’t part of the letter since it is poised to leave the EU and is only scheduled to attend part of the leaders’ meeting in La Valletta. The decision to leave was the biggest setback for the EU in decades, and Trump didn’t endear himself with many EU leaders by saying that Brexit “will be a tremendous asset and not a tremendous liability.”
Tusk wrote to the leaders that “in politics, the argument of dignity must not be overused,” before adding that “today we must stand up very clearly for our dignity, the dignity of a united Europe — regardless of whether we are talking to Russia, China, the U.S. or Turkey.”
And Tusk further insisted that any disintegration wouldn’t be beneficial to the restored nation states, but instead lead to “their real and factual dependence on the great superpowers: the United States, Russia and China.”
In France, Belgium and the Netherlands, leaders weighed in, criticizing Trump’s decision to temporary halt to all refugee admissions, as well as immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations.
Trump’s decision “only aims to exacerbate tensions, create potential conflicts with in the end the greatest inefficiency regarding results in the fight against terrorism,” French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in France’s lower house of parliament.
He said that the ban “is useless because it ostracizes some countries, it makes it impossible to welcome people who are persecuted in their country and need protection from free nations.”
In the Netherlands, Foreign Minister Bert Koenders hit back, saying, “If you want to fight terror, then the worst thing you can do is trample human rights.”
Like Belgium, the Dutch government has updated its travel advisory for the U.S. to warn of the effects of Trump’s new policy on citizens who have dual nationality with one of the seven nations affected.
And even royalty got involved. During the very ornate speech to the authorities of the country, King Philippe had unkind words for both the U.S. and Britain.
The monarch said that by looking inward, it “countered their own tradition of openness and generosity.”
He said that “you cannot restore confidence by turning back the clock, based on a kind of utopian nostalgia. And you can’t do it by building walls.”
Mike Corder in the Hague, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, and AP Video Journalist Vitnija Saldava in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.
12 responses to “EU chief sees Trump announcements as threats”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
The US had very little to do with the paltry condition of the EU. Perhaps if they focused more on hard work and productivity then on what other nations are doing, they wouldn’t be sitting in such weak place of this world.
Now the EU Snowflakes are coming out of their safe places, whining about everything.
The fact the EU willfully failed to vet all the incoming immigrants is their problem, not ours.
The fact EU tech companies have been buried by the USA companies speaks volumes about their lack of progress. Just whine to the EU bureaucrats to make up fake lawsuits. Whine, whine, whine.
EU Snowflakes are going to have to find some cojones, if this is possible, and clean up their mess. Not our problem.
How about just one post without the words “bureaucrat” and “willful”? Just once…
King Louie thinks he can shoot Goo Aid on everybody and all is happy. Sorry, only trumpies wI’ll lick it up. I’m waiting for King Louie to issue marshal law.
The EU viewed Brexit as a threat as well. It looks like President Trump is on the right side of the issue.
So the EU President sees everybody as a threat.
the EU is irrelevant…that’s why it’s falling apart. Good luck with your Muslim immigrants….suckers.
EU President Donald Tusk said: “We should remind our American friends of their own motto: United we stand, divided we fall.” Let me remind Tusk that Europe is not united and never will be except on paper. The United States was able become united because most people spoke a common language – English. The EU has 24 official languages spoken in the 27 member nations, 5 semi-official languages, about 45 minority languages, and 8 immigrant languages, some of which are rapidly becoming major languages in the EU.
The EU is self destructing because of their liberal policies.
Be careful what you wish for all you liberal protesters.
If you want to be so friendly then move to Europe instead of protesting at airports. Go ahead and get on a plane, you’re right there. Take your warm and fuzzy ideology with you and cram it.
What’s happening in France? Read on….
From: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5128/france-no-go-zones
“In October 2011, a landmark 2,200-page report, “Banlieue de la République” (Suburbs of the Republic) found that Seine-Saint-Denis and other Parisian suburbs are becoming “separate Islamic societies” cut off from the French state, and where Islamic Sharia law is rapidly displacing French civil law. The report said that Muslim immigrants are increasingly rejecting French values and instead are immersing themselves in radical Islam.
The report — which was commissioned by the influential French think tank, L’Institut Montaigne — was directed by Gilles Kepel, a highly respected political scientist and specialist in Islam, together with five other French researchers.
The authors of the report showed that France — which now has 6.5 million Muslims (the largest Muslim population in European Union) — is on the brink of a major social explosion because of the failure of Muslims to integrate into French society.
The report also showed how the problem is being exacerbated by radical Muslim preachers, who are promoting the social marginalization of Muslim immigrants in order to create a parallel Muslim society in France that is ruled by Sharia law.”
Want more?
From: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9837/germany-migrants-jihadists
Germany Downplayed Threat of Jihadists Posing as Migrants –
“German political leaders and national security officials knew that Islamic State jihadists were entering Europe disguised as migrants but repeatedly downplayed the threat, apparently to avoid fueling anti-immigration sentiments, according to an exposé by German public television.”
European demographics are changing rapidly. European families have one or two children whereas Muslim families have four or five times as many. It is only a matter of time before the EU disappears and Muslims take control of most European countries. The next target will be North America.
Who cares…
U.S. get out of NATO means nothing to us.