A Davos Forum to clarify whether the US wants to break the alliance with Europe

Madrid / BarcelonaThe Davos conference, the annual gathering of dignitaries and business leaders held in this Swiss city, opens its latest edition this Monday with the presence of US President Donald Trump, who will deliver a speech on Wednesday, hours after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The strong political and economic instability worldwide – especially Trump's latest threats in Greenland– will be the backdrop for the meeting.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is being held this year under the title A spirit of dialogueThis phrase represents "a response" to the growing geopolitical and, by extension, economic uncertainty, explains Juan Moscoso del Prado, a researcher at EsadeGeo. "Dialogue is not a luxury, it is a necessity," said the president of the WEF, former Norwegian minister Børge Brende. Relations between the US and Europe are therefore at their coldest point since World War II, when the Allied victory allowed the US to build an alliance with the countries of Western Europe, which, after the fall of the Soviet Union, expanded to Eastern Europe. The recent insistence of Trump and his administration on controlling Greenland, despite the staunch opposition of the Greenlandic and Danish governments, is causing equal parts astonishment and concern in European capitals, which are witnessing Washington deteriorate relations with NATO partners. This deterioration not only affects the alliance's European partners, but also Canada, a country that Trump has threatened to annex. The surprising unilateral attack on Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolás Maduro, by US forces was the element that definitively set off alarm bells among EU partners.

"In this context, the transatlantic relationship and European risk management American “They appear as a specific axis,” Moscoso del Prado notes regarding this year’s WEC. Thus, it is to be expected that the meeting’s participants will attempt to “foster dialogue” with the US administration to “clarify what the United States’ role will be and whether it will completely break with its historical role as an ally of Europe,” he adds. However, Greenland will not be the only source of debate on the Trump administration’s foreign policy with regard to Europe. Tensions over the conflict between Trump—and his vice president, JD Vance—and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as the intermittent sympathies the American leader shows toward his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have also caused unease and concern in most European capitals, which at the same time see how the flame of ‘peace’ is not yet bearing fruit.

Apart from Greenland and Ukraine, however, it should be noted that Trump began his term by increasing tariffs on dozens of countries around the world, but with a special focus on… The EU, which she has openly accused of living off the economy, was also mentioned. European Secretary of State Ursula von der Leyen, who will also speak in Davos, represented a pause in the trade tensions, which Washington maintains with Beijing, another destabilizing element of the global economy and forum debates.

But the tension between the Trump administration and the EU also affects Spain. "It was one of the most decisive voices in strengthening the EU in the face of the red lines being crossed on the other side of the Atlantic," says Moscoso del Prado. However, it affects Spain just as it affects its other European neighbors, the analyst adds, especially regarding trade relations, which are expected to fall between 7% and 10% compared to pre-Trump levels. In this context, Spain has been seeking to strengthen its relations with other parts of the world for some time, starting with Asia, but also with Latin America—it is one of the member states that has most welcomed the EU-Mercosur agreement. All of this will shape Pedro Sánchez's agenda in Davos, where he will speak this Wednesday morning, a few hours before Trump (more than 30 heads of state or government will participate in total). The WEF is one of the Spanish Prime Minister's favorite events – he's a regular attendee – and where he takes the opportunity to establish his own profile on the current international agenda: last year, for example, he reaffirmed in his opposition to the technological establishment.

This year, Sánchez will travel accompanied by the same four ministers as last year and a large delegation from major Spanish companies, as government sources have explained to Europa Press. Beyond bilateral meetings with multinationals and foreign investors, it is common to see the Prime Minister photographed with some of the top executives of the Ibex 35, even during periods of strained relations. Last year, he met with the president of BBVA—the takeover bid for Sabadell, which the government opposed, was still dominating the headlines—but also with the top executives of Iberdrola, Santander, Repsol, Acciona, and Naturgy.