European leaders seek show of unity in wake of Trump victory

European leaders are gathering in Budapest for top-level talks that should give an indication of how united the continent can remain in response to Donald Trump’s second term as US president, but could also reveal its divisions.

Hosted by Hungary’s authoritarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, a Trump ally who has enthusiastically hailed the Republican candidate’s re-election, the EU 27’s leaders are being joined on Thursday by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

On the agenda for the two-day meeting of the European Political Community were support for Ukraine, migration, global trade and economic security, with an informal EU leaders’ summit on Friday due to focus on the bloc’s declining competitiveness, laid bare in a report by the former Italian leader Mario Draghi.

Leaders were upbeat as they arrived for the long-scheduled event, stressing the need for a strong Europe and effective transatlantic cooperation with Trump, whose return to the White House could herald an abrupt halt to US support for Ukraine and a potentially damaging trade war.

Europe aimed to be a “respected partner” and deepen its ties with the US, the president of the European council, Charles Michel, said, while recognising “some differences”. The commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the bloc must maintain unity.

“We have shown Europe can take responsibility by standing together – we showed it during the pandemic and the energy crisis,” she said. “If we are facing challenges, no country can handle them alone but by standing together we can overcome them.”

Von der Leyen said she was looking forward to working with Trump again “in a good manner … to strengthen the transatlantic bond” based on a clear-headed analysis of shared interests. “The future of Europe is in our hands.”

Finland’s prime minister, Petteri Orpo, said a clear message on Ukraine was vital. “We need to say that Europe will support Ukraine as long as necessary,” Orpo said.

Rutte congratulated Trump on his victory. The Nato chief said he was aiming to work with the US president-elect, noting that it was strong pressure from Trump during his previous presidency that had pushed members of Nato to significantly boost their defence spending.

He said

Russia was “delivering the latest [weapons] technology into North Korea in return for North Korean help with the war against Ukraine”, a threat “not only to the European part of Nato, but also to the US”, he said, adding that he was looking forward to discussing with Trump “how we face these threats collectively”.

Analysts have expressed doubts that Europe’s leaders will be able to unite around common projects to meet the potential challenges of an isolationist, “America first” presidency, including much-needed new funding tools for defence and economic innovation.

Eurointelligence analysts said: “Contrary to claims, Europe is not prepared for the economic impact of higher tariffs, the likely U-turn on Ukraine, and defence spending ultimatums – we expect the EU to divide on similar lines to the US itself.”

Sébastien Maillard, of the Jacques Delors Institute, said Europeans “really have a knife at their throat … The US election result forces the EU to open its eyes.” But perhaps, he added, “it’s in situations like these that things can actually happen”.

The bloc has been weakened by the domestic political difficulties of its two biggest members: the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has been severely hobbled by his lack of a parliamentary majority and the coalition of German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, collapsed this week.

Paris and Berlin have also been increasingly at odds on issues ranging from how to fund increased defence spending and industrial investment to trade policy, and in particular tariffs on China’s electric cars.

Scholz faced calls on Thursday for an immediate vote of confidence after firing his finance minister on Wednesday, triggering the collapse of his ruling three-party coalition. Germany might be in political limbo until fresh elections in March.

“Without those two, the rest will find it extremely difficult to really advance on anything,” said Guntram Wolff, of the Bruegel thinktank, adding that he did not think Europe was “really prepared for this”.

Moreover, Europe’s advancing – and increasingly disruptive – far-right parties, led by Orbàn, are likely to be further emboldened by Trump’s victory.

Orbán, could find backing from Slovakia’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, particularly on calls for a swift end to the war in Ukraine.