European Council President called on European leaders to unite in response to Washington. Not only has Trump withdrawn America from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), existentially threatening the joint UNSC agreement, but reimposed economic sanctions against Iran, which, in turn, will be applied to European companies doing business with or in Iran.
Additionally, Trump is imposing steel and aluminum tariffs, to which European companies have not yet found their exemption, further damaging the European economy and deepening a rift between Europe and America… all brought about by Trump.
Will the transatlantic partnership survive his tenure in the White House? That remains to be seen.
Speaking to European leaders at an EU meeting held in Bulgaria, the Council’s President declared that Trump was on a mission to undermine Europe, and that European leaders need to find their sovereignty and developed a united front against Washington’s ill-considered actions.
Looking at latest decisions of @realDonaldTrump someone could even think: with friends like that who needs enemies. But frankly, EU should be grateful. Thanks to him we got rid of all illusions. We realise that if you need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of your arm.
— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) May 16, 2018
The Guardian reports: .
At the start of an EU summit in Bulgaria, the European council president offered a withering condemnation of Trump’s White House. He said: “We are witnessing today a new phenomenon: the capricious assertiveness of the American administration. Looking at the latest decisions of President Trump, some could even think, ‘With friends like that, who needs enemies?’”
Trump’s decision to walk away from the nuclear deal with Iran – to which the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China are co-signatories – is being linked by the EU with the US administration’s refusal to exempt the bloc from steel and aluminium tariffs.
It was clear, Tusk suggested, that Washington could no longer be relied upon.
With member states yet to agree on how to handle the challenges, Tusk called on leaders gathering in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, to unite behind the tough line being taken by key European actors in response to the White House’s actions.
Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel have resolved to stick with the joint comprehensive plan of action with Iran, despite the threats of US sanctions against European businesses.
The European commission is refusing to open talks on wider trade terms with the US, including import tariffs on cars – a bugbear of the US president – until it receives a permanent exemption from punitive taxes on European steel and aluminium.
Before a dinner with EU leaders, including the UK’s prime minister, Tusk said: “I have no doubt that in the new global game, Europe will either be one of the major players, or a pawn. This is the only real alternative. In order to be the subject and not the object of global politics, Europe must be united economically, politically and also militarily like never before. To put it simply: either we are together, or we will not be at all.
“But, frankly speaking, Europe should be grateful by President Trump, because thanks to him we have got rid of old illusions. He has made us realise that if you need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of your arm.
“Europe must do everything in its power to protect – in spite of today’s mood – the transatlantic bond. But at the same time we must be prepared for those scenarios where we have to act on our own.”
Tusk said he wanted the 28 leaders over the next 24 hours to reconfirm that the EU would stick to the deal as long as Iran did. “The deal is good for European and global security, which is why we must maintain it,” he said.
Tusk said the US appeared to be hesitating in hitting European companies doing business in Iran with sanctions, but the bloc still needed to be ready to protect its interests. It was crucial, he said, that the EU stuck to its guns and refused to talk trade with the US until it received a permanent exemption from punitive tariffs on steel and aluminium imposed by Washington on the grounds of national security.
“The EU and US are friends and partners, therefore US tariffs cannot be justified on the basis of national security,” he said. “It is absurd to even think that the EU could be a threat to the US. We need to bring back reality in this discussion, which is not the case today.”
The Sofia economic summit was turned into a ‘we must respond to Trump’ meeting, as the agenda largely consisted of items that find their origin in Trump’s foreign policy, whether it is the American withdrawal from the JCPOA, metals tariffs on European companies, the slaughter of Palestinians protesting the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, or sanctions on European firms doing business in or with Iran, as well as the economic impact on energy costs occasioned by the American exit from the JCPOA, almost eclipsed the discussion surrounding economic development in the digital technology sector.
In recent months, Europe has encountered a slew of new economic problems, which mostly seem to be part of the fallout from the nuclear bomb that Trump has become to the European economy.
On a diplomatic note, the choices that are being clearly outlined both here and elsewhere by other European leaders, are that Europe must decide whether its relationship with America comes before Europe’s own intrinsic and existential interests.
As upcoming meetings will outline these decisions, and the application of American sanctions and tariffs will put them into play, we will get the chance to see just how Europe will handle the outcome of President Donald Trump.
This isn’t the first time European officials have gathered to recommit to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran, or to condemn Trump’s withdrawal therefrom and the fallout thereof.
Yesterday, the foreign ministers of the European parties to the Iran deal gathered together to do just this.
EU Chief Commission Jean-Claude Juncker recently declared that the US cannot be counted on and that its international influence needed to be replaced, referring to Washington’s policies that are destructive of European interests and that of trust in international bodies, agreements.
On Friday, The EU’s foreign policy chief, Frederica Mogherini, slammed Trump’s foreign policy at a State of the Union message delivered in Florence, communicating Europe’s perspective on the international plan on Iran.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also recently expressed such sentiments, speaking at the Catholic Conference in Münster, she stated the importance of standing by international agreements while echoing her disappointment with the Trump withdrawal from the JCPOA.
French President Emmanuel Macron, following his reception of the Charlemagne prize in Aachen, condemned Trump’s maneuver while emphasizing the manner in which this demonstrates the need for Europe to confidently stand up for its own interests.
Europe, therefore, must look after its own interests, with or without the US, and, apparently, as Trump’s actions demonstrate, particularly without. The EU must stand up for its own sovereignty and security and economic welfare by standing together and coordinating a cooperative foreign and security polity.
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