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Al Jazeera: Is Europe ready for the brutal start of the Trump administration?

PNN – In an interview with experts, Al Jazeera TV channel discussed how Europe is preparing for the transfer of power in the United States and the brutal beginning of Donald Trump’s administration and wrote: Strengthening the field of security and defense in this continent, especially with the reduction of Washington’s interaction, is a necessity that Europeans should understand.

According to the report of Pakistan News Network, experts announced in an interview with this Arabic TV channel that Although European Union leaders took to social media on the morning after the US election (Wednesday) to congratulate Trump on his victory in the US presidential election, few of them are likely to feel positive about the change of leadership in the White House.

Last year, in a controversial statement, Trump announced that if the Europeans do not cover their defense costs, he will not support them against a Russian attack.

Ana Weislander, a senior member of the Atlantic Council think tank, said in this regard: Trump wants to allocate three percent of the gross domestic product of the European countries that are members of NATO to cover defense costs. It can be expected that he will exert a lot of pressure to achieve such a goal.

Al Jazeera reminds: After the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 2014, the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pledged to increase defense spending by two percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). But according to the leaders of this military alliance, the aforementioned increase has been delayed so far, as many countries did not take any action until Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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Weisslander further told Al Jazeera: Europeans have long understood the need to strengthen their security and defense sector, but this understanding has not been accompanied by the allocation of resources or the necessary political will.

He added: Such strengthening is very necessary, especially with Russia’s systematic threat against European security and the reduction of American engagement. This expert considered Europe’s first step towards independence from America as a step forward in supporting Ukraine to win against Russia.

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According to Al Jazeera, some European leaders have adopted a stronger stance towards Trump’s victory and reacted sharply after the announcement of the results of the US presidential election.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has repeatedly emphasized Europe’s strategic independence from America, also wrote in a post on X after announcing this victory: I just spoke with [German] Chancellor Olaf Schultz. In this new context, we will work towards a more united, stronger and more sovereign Europe.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Dimitar Bejef, director of the European Studies Center at Oxford University, emphasized that Europe’s strategic independence from America is being disrupted by the internal conditions of France and Germany. He added: In addition to the collapsing German coalition, Macron has officially become the head of a minority government since the parliamentary elections in July.

This expert refers to the dismissal of the German finance minister by Schultz, which has increased speculations about early elections in this country. In France, following Macron’s decision to dissolve parliament and hold early elections, he lost the necessary majority for his party’s rule.

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“As we know, we will see a rapid and brutal transfer of power in America in January,” said Catherine Fiske of the European Union Institute (EUI). We’re going to see a little bit of panic, chaos and uncertainty.

This expert then added: Given the fear of Trump’s White House, we will see more cohesion in Europe than what we have seen in previous years.

In another part of his conversation with Al-Jazeera, Weisslander noted that Europe will deal with Trump’s opposition to autonomy in the new era.

Constantinos Filis, professor of history at the American College of Greece, said in this context: If European leaders respond to external pressures in the right way, they can achieve autonomy.

New York Times: Trump, Europe’s worst economic nightmare has come true

Referring to Trump’s victory in last week’s US presidential election, this American newspaper considered the return of this Republican Party candidate to be the realization of Europe’s nightmare and considered it with wide consequences for the allies on the other side of the Atlantic.

It is stated in this article: With the re-election of Trump, the imposition of large-scale tariffs on goods imported from Europe and the pressure to increase defense costs can cause large-scale budget deficits in European countries.

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Referring to Trump’s hostile view of China, this newspaper adds: Such a view can put Europe at the crossroads of choosing between Washington and Beijing, or face punishments.

The New York Times further points to some of Europe’s leading economies, including Germany, and notes: If Europe is looking at countries like Germany to get rid of dependence on America, I must say that this country is currently in its second year of economic recession. Therefore, more tariffs from the new Trump administration can aggravate the economic conditions prevailing in this country.

Luisa Santos, vice president of Big Business Europe (a lobby group representing thousands of European companies), warned that tariffs would raise costs and stifle investment.

He added: We still hope that this issue will be reconsidered due to the importance of economic relations.

Europe’s fear of Trump’s trade war against itself comes at a time when, according to the European Union’s report, the direct investment of the European Union in the United States amounted to 2.4 trillion dollars in 2022, which in turn created more than 3.4 million jobs in the United States. According to the available statistics, currently, the average US tariff on imports from Europe is close to 3-4%.

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