Europe urges Trump to support Ukraine, avoid trade wars

Highlights:

• Macron says Europe needs security independence from US
• NATO head says Ukraine’s strategic importance is beyond Europe
• EC chief says no EU member can manage upcoming challenges alone
• EP president says Europe not strong without strong Germany
• European stock markets decline after Trump’s win

European leaders have urged Donald Trump to avoid trade wars, maintain support for Ukraine and to refrain from unsettling the global order following his victory in the US presidential election.

The continent must assert its security independence from the US and defend its interests over those of geopolitical rivals, they said at the European Political Community Summit in Budapest yesterday.

“We must not delegate forever our security to America,”French President Emmanuel Macron said while addressing the fifth European Political Community summit in Budapest, Hungary’s capital, today.

He argued that returning US leader Donald Trump would legitimately “defend the interests of the American people” and asked: “Are we ready to defend the interests of the European people?”

Around 50 European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, were reassessing their trans-Atlantic relations at the gathering.

Rutte said it was important to see Ukraine as a problem that extends beyond Europe, describing Russia’s partnership with North Korea as “a threat, not only to the European part of NATO, but also to the US.”

However, he expressed hope of establishing a good working relationship with Trump. The latest developments in the Ukraine war, he said, are reason enough for Washington to care.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday called on European leaders to apply an approach of “peace through strength” to confront the threat posed by Russia.

Trump’s relationship with his European peers was tense and rocky for much of his first term, and his return to power brings uncertainty over US backing for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, the US commitment to the NATO military alliance and the prospect of tariffs on exports to the United States.

“I trust the American society,” European Council chief Charles Michel said as he and others urged Trump to continue to support Ukraine, as they arrived at a meeting in Budapest.

“They know it is in their interest to show firmness when we engage with authoritarian regimes. If the United States were weak with Russia, what would it mean for China?”

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said it was now up to the European Union to be united. No EU member state on their own can manage the upcoming challenges, she said.

On Ukraine, she said, “It is in all our interests that the autocrats of this world get a very clear message that is not the right of might, that the rule of law is important.”

Many of the leaders said they were looking forward to working with Trump, reports Reuters. But others were blunt about concerns, including over trade and Trump’s brusque treatment of allies.

“President Trump is known sometimes for a degree of unpredictability, a degree of volatility, so we need dialogue,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden said. “We will seek dialogue, but we will not give up our principles.”

Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said he was concerned about the prospect of a trade war: “It should not be allowed to happen,” he said. “Let’s now try to influence the US and Trump’s future policy so that he understands the risks involved.”

“One thing is for sure, Europe is not strong without a strong Germany,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said.
Meanwhile, European stock markets largely declined on Wednesday, moving in contrast to gains in US markets as investors weighed the impact of Trump’s tariff policies on the eurozone economy, reports Euro News.

European stocks may have also responded to domestic factors, as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner, ending the coalition government and raising concerns of a potential snap election ahead of the planned date in March.