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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/07/european-leaders-struggle-for-show-of-unity-in-wake-of-trump-victory>
"European leaders have called for stronger action to defend their continent and
support Ukraine, in a show of unity after Donald Trump won re-election to the
White House for a second term that is likely to prove a major challenge for the
bloc.
Meeting in Budapest for two days of talks hosted by Hungary’s prime minister,
Viktor Orbán, an outspoken Trump ally, the EU’s 27 heads of state and
government were joined on Thursday by 20 other leaders from the wider European
Political Community including Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
On the agenda were support for Ukraine, migration, trade and economic security.
An informal summit of EU leaders alone will focus on Friday on the bloc’s
declining competitiveness, laid bare in a report by the former Italian leader
Mario Draghi.
Orbán said there had been “diverging opinions” during the day-long talks but
also common ground on the need for Europe to respond to a “world-changing” US
election result.
“There was agreement that Europe should take more responsibility for its peace
and security. To be blunt, we cannot wait for the Americans to protect us,” he
said. He had celebrated Trump’s victory with vodka rather than champagne, he
added, because “I was in Kyrgyzstan, where they have different traditions”.
Trump’s victory brings unwanted further uncertainty to the continent at a time
when it is already struggling to agree on common responses to its problems,
including much-needed new funding tools, such as joint borrowing, for defence
and economic innovation.
The return of the former president raises the prospect of a halt to US support
for Ukraine, fuels doubts over Washington’s future commitment to the Nato
alliance, and could herald economically disastrous tariffs on European exports.
It is also likely to bolster Europe’s advancing far-right parties at a time
when the EU’s two biggest powers – Germany, whose coalition government
collapsed on Wednesday, and France – are weakened by political crises at home.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said Europe must assert its independence
from the US and defend its interests over those of geopolitical rivals at a
“decisive moment in history”, adding that the bloc could not allow itself to be
a weak “herbivore” surrounded by “carnivores”.
Europe must seize control of its history and could no longer “delegate” its
security to the US, Macron said. “Do we want to read the history written by
others – the wars launched by Vladimir Putin, the US election, China’s
technological or trade choices – or do we want to write our own?”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
