U.S. Is Now Europe's Biggest Challenge, EU Leader Says

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

A top European Union official has identified President Donald Trump's administration as one of the greatest challenges facing leaders on a continent traditionally aligned with the U.S.

European Commision First Vice-President Frans Timmermans made the remarks Wednesday at the European Business Summit in Brussels. When asked about the leading issue facing the EU for the coming year, the Dutch social democrat said it was to assert Europe's role in world affairs as the U.S. adopted nationalist political and economic policies under Trump.

"In the very short term, I believe it is to have a clear and unified answer to the challenge posed by those who don’t believe in free trade. The world is watching Europe now. They are wondering: 'Can they stay united?' The answer is going to decide if we are going to be the ones to shape the world or be shaped by others. It is going to determine if Europe is going to be strong or be a playing field for others," Timmermans said, according to U.K.-based pan-European outlet .

Warning of a Cold War-like environment developing across Europe, Timmermans said that "some things in transatlantic relations that we never thought would change are being challenged, the issues of trade and security." He added, "This is the first administration that thinks it is in the American interest to have a divided Europe rather than a united one. This poses a real challenge for Europe."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-is-now-europes-biggest-challenge-eu-leader-says/ar-AAxI2xP?li=BBnb7Kz

[DFW]

1. Superficialy correct. But ignoring a fundamental aspect:

No Putin, no Trump, and Putin is Europe's nasty next-door neighbor.

[OnDoutside]

4. 100% agree. Apart from screwing with the US, the breakup of the EU is his top target.

[DFW]

5. The good news is:

Merkel and Macron are perfectly ware of this.

The bad news is that corrupt nationalists like Kaczynski and Orban not only don't care, they see Putin as their ticket to permanent power, just like in the "good (for them) old (i.e. Warsaw Pact) days."

[OnDoutside]

6. Agreed again on all that. I'm surprised the EU hasn't come down

harder on Orban.

It's a pity that the EU, as an institution lost so much political capital in pushing the United States of Europe. However the Russian interference might help rehabilitate the EU a bit.

[DFW]

8. That is the big coin toss, of course.

Russian interference can either rehabilitate or tear apart the EU. The Russians may not be big on infrastructure and helping out populations, but they ARE master propagandists. The French Communists were "shocked" to hear that Moscow was manipulating their every policy position.

West German leftists, including the Greens. pulled together into a viable political party when the Soviet manipulation of them was revealed, the bad apples tossed out, and only true believers were left. They're still divided into their pragmatic wing and their fundamentalist wing, but the Soviet wing is gone. All this came to light when the Soviet Union dissolved and there was that brief period when Yeltsin really tried to make Russia into a peaceful partner of the west and was Clinton's friend--then his drinking turned his mind into mush, and Putin slowly took over, even before he really took over. A good friend of ours was station chief for West German radio news in Russia from 1993 through 1998, and witnessed all of this first hand. Learned good Russian, still has his Russian girlfriend that he met while he was there. It's hard for her. He spends a fair amount of time in Russia, and she visits the west often, but while he speaks good Russian, she speaks ONLY Russian. When the two of them are at our house, SOMEONE is always left out of the conversation--my wife if it's Russian, his girlfriend if it's German.

A cousin of my wife's had a girlfriend he met while in the former East Germany, and wanted to marry. Her exit process, which usually took years and was frought with government harassment went surprisingly smoothly. But as soon as she was in the west, she left him, divorced him, and went to work in high tech electronics research. Crushed, my wife's cousin began to suspect he was the victim of a scam by the Stasi. When the wall came down suddenly, his former wife committed suicide, which didn't do much to make him change his mind about what she was, and what a patsy he had been.

Putin is all about putting back together the old Soviet hegemony, but is way smarter than his former Soviet colleagues. His motto has been, "if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em." In the end, it's cheaper.

[Cha]

2. It's USA's biggest challenge

too.

trump and his doormats are the ones who dishonor the American flag.

[BannonsLiver]

3. A dictator in the west, a dictator in the east

No wonder Europe has the willies.

[dalton99a]

7. +1