Europe now has only one path left to survive
How many times have you read or heard that Europe is at a crossroads? The expression has been overused, especially in recent years, to explain the continuous existential decisions the European Union has had to make. But Europe is no longer at any crossroads; this entry in 2026 It has forced us out, and never has that been more true.
Europe now has only one path to guarantee not only its geopolitical relevance, but also the survival of a model that, with all its weaknesses and contradictions, defends respect for democracy and international law. The alternative is corrupt authoritarianism, armed with disinformation and violence, led by oligarchs who unabashedly champion imperialism and extractivism. So far, the strategy of subservience and adapting to a world that others create and dismantle has only opened the door to blackmail, whether with tariffs, the end of the war in Ukraine, or now with Greenland. It's time to change strategy, starting with the narrative.
To get to this point, Trumpism and its European satellites —from Farage to Meloni, including Abascal— understood that first they had to lay the groundwork: pervert language. Words like freedom either justice They now have the depth of a reel
But Trump's shift from rhetoric to action has unsettled even his admirers. When the "sovereignty" championed by the US president involves capturing Maduro and threatening Greenland, imposing tariffs on exports, or deciding Ukraine's future unilaterally, the European far right finds itself at a dead end. "It's unorthodox and contrary to international law," has said the Brexiteer Nigel Farage. "The sovereignty of states is never negotiable," said the French far-right politician Jordan Bardella.
As Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, pointed out inThe Economist, Trump's aggressiveness may, ironically, be a centrist catalyst. By defending national sovereignty against the attacks and blackmail of the American leader, European governments have an opportunity to reconnect with a citizenry that feels unprotected. Europe has no choice but to revisit the dictionary and fill words like [the US] with meaning. sovereignty, freedom and democracy
Trump threatens Greenland ruthlessly and disregards international law because he cannot persuade, only impose. Against this, Europe's most powerful asset remains its social protection model and system of values. How points out Bruegel expert Jacob Funk Kierkegaard, Like Danes (without overlooking the fact that we're talking about a colony), Greenlanders have, for example, universal healthcare and free university education, two class privileges for American citizens and, even more so, for those in its colonies. This model is the most powerful geopolitical asset against the chaos and inequality in which oligarchs relentlessly thrive.
Needless to say, it's far from perfect. If Trump has found fertile ground in Europe, it's because there are many cracks. First, internal divisions, with the far right within seven EU governments and an Eastern Europe understandably more concerned with Moscow than with Washington. Then, the European colonial legacy and other inconsistencies in the face of the rest of the world. Keeping Greenland in a post-colonial limbo is a tactical gift for Trump: it allows him to sell his extractivism under the banner of "liberation." This error is compounded when double standards are applied: if we only defend international law and sovereignty within our own borders, but ignore them in Gaza or Venezuela, we lose the legitimacy to lead the alternative.
Sovereignty and sovereignty
Finally, there is our dependence on the US in such fundamental matters as security and energy. Failing to strive for our own energy and technological sovereignty is self-sabotage. European purchases of Russian gas and oil are another example. They still continue today and have been fundamental for Russia to be able to continue paying for the war against UkraineChanging dependence on Moscow to dependence on Washington, which has already useda letter to blackmail Brussels, it doesn't seem smart.
The only solution for Europe's energy independence is renewables. That's why US fossil fuel imperialism needs the climate emergency to be seen as a false myth. That way they can dismantle green laws and to deactivate any possibility of an independent Europe. Every cut to these laws in Brussels is, in reality, another concession to American blackmail. "What if the Green Deal wasn't about emissions but about freedom?" he wondered. Professor Alberto Alemanno. The same applies to the digital sector.
"It's possible to imagine a world where others are no longer dependent on the North American market. [...] Filling the 'demand gap' created by persistent US trade deficits will be much easier for the rest of the world than it will be for the United States to address the supply side," says the economist. Joseph Stiglitz
There is no longer time to debate whether Europe is prepared for a new world order. The new order has been underway for some time, and 2026 is the proof. Either Europe strengthens itself and frees itself from the US, or it will do well Washington's National Security Strategy that predicts its "decline". And if there's one thing we should have learned by now, it's that Trump always starts by winning through the narrative.