Other Christmases at War
Never before have the leaders of the European Union been so belittled, insulted, and ridiculed by the leaders of other world powers. At the beginning of Trump's second term, his Secretary of Defense, the singular Pete Hegseth (the same one who can't stand fat or bearded soldiers, preferring them lean and hairless), appeared at a NATO summit and inaugurated the new era of cowboy diplomacy declaring before the international community that the world had a new sheriff and that everyone had to obey him. Recently, Trump himself has stated that European leaders are "weak" and that this weakness is due to "political correctness," a term which the US president also includes the minimum education necessary to navigate the world like a normal person. This same week, Putin called European leaders "pigs," reiterated the idea of their weakness, and threatened to escalate the war, that is, to occupy more Ukrainian territory. Interestingly, and in a different context, "because" is the insult that Trump He snapped, not too long ago either, at a journalist who asked him a question he didn't like.
It is also true that European leaders do little to command respect. Quite the opposite, in fact. Their continued ideological retreat in the face of the far right's advance and their timid and inadequate responses to the intimidation tactics of the new aspiring world leaders translate into policies that run counter to the EU's founding objectives and very reason for being. Last week we discussed the regression in EU migration policy, with the agreement to open deportation camps for immigrants in non-EU countries, with all that this entails in terms of human rights violations. This week we received news of the setback of the Union Regarding the timetable for phasing out fossil fuel-consuming vehicles, this effectively amounts to a complete abandonment of the 2030 Agenda and European climate change policies. This time, the pressure didn't come from foreign governments, but from the automotive industry. Everyone is taking advantage of a hesitant and directionless EU, which has forgotten or completely abandoned its vocation as a space of peace, progress, and free movement of goods and people. The creation of these deportation camps to third countries seems to be an absurd response to the new US security strategy, with which Trump and his administration intend to dismantle the European Union.
Ukraine will spend another Christmas at war, watching as Trump and Putin divide its territory and resources, playing the role of the last bastion before a major war between Europe and a Russia that continues to flaunt its nuclear power. Meanwhile, Trump, who likes to portray himself as a peacemaker, is on the verge of starting a war in the Caribbean, with Venezuela as his first target.