Europe finally unites against Trump
BarcelonaIt seems incredible that a year and a half after Donald Trump's return to the White House, Europeans still haven't reached a common position on how to deal with him. And this despite the fact that, before the war in the Middle East, there was the tariff crisis and the Greenland incident, where his arrogant and erratic behavior was already on full display. In the case of the attack on Iran, there was no common and coherent response until Trump made a decision that clearly goes against European security, such as lifting the embargo on Russian oil. Now, finally, it seems that this decision has united all European leaders (except for the usual suspects like Orbán).
If you look closely, Trump's move also demonstrates the sense of improvisation that reigns in the White House, especially when it comes to containing energy prices. And Trump is benefiting a country, Russia, that, according to the CIA, is helping Iran with intelligence and information. The fact is that, thanks to Washington, Putin will see money pour into the Russian coffers, which he will use to finance the war in Ukraine. And to top it all off, the measure doesn't seem to have calmed the markets or lowered the price of Brent crude, which remains above $100 a barrel. The world turned upside down.
Now, if anyone in the EU has been affected by the Iranian crisis, it's the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who, as soon as she seemed to celebrate the operation and consider the Iranian regime overthrown, appeared to be hailing a new world order without rules, or rather, ruled by them. The German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, seemed to defend the same position, even going to the Oval Office to fawn over Trump as if he were a Mark Rutte 2. Now, however, both are turning tail.
It seems Europeans have realized two things in the last few hours: first, the prospect of a swift US-Israeli victory over the Iranian theocratic regime is fading with each passing day. Second, and more importantly, Trump couldn't care less about European interests, and if he has to harm them to gain an advantage, he won't hesitate for a second. Therefore, it's high time Europe woke up, abandoned the notion that blindly following and praising Trump is a useful short- or medium-term strategy, and started speaking plainly, for example, by stating that the operation against Iran is having disastrous effects on the global economy and on the stability of the Middle East. And, in any case, if the United States wanted any kind of support, it should have first made an effort to convince its partners and thus forge an alliance.
Trump not only ignored Europe at the time, but now he's giving a boost to his main enemy, Vladimir Putin. We hope that this will at least open the eyes of more than a few people and lead to a change of course in Brussels.
