By Nawab Khan
BRUSSELS, Jan 18 (KUNA) -- The tension in the European Union (EU) is steadily climbing up ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday.
His recent statements on EU, NATO, Iran, and ties with Russia have caused great dismay in Brussels and dashed all hopes that once in office Trump would wear his "presidential hat" and distance himself from the controversial stances of his election campaign.
Moreover, EU officials and analysts are alarmed about Trump's comments which suggest that he supports the disintegration of the Union.
In a joint interview with the British paper The Times and the German daily Bild on Sunday, Trump said he thought the UK "was so smart in getting out," of the EU, adding he believed other EU member states would leave the EU.
He also described NATO as "obsolete" and called for a deal with Russia that would reduce nuclear arsenals and ease western sanctions on Moscow.
The outgoing US ambassador to the EU, Anthony Gardner, told reporters in Brussels on Friday, January13, that Trump's transitional team phoned officials at the EU institutions asking which EU member state will follow the UK in leaving the EU.
"There was one question that was asked, basically, what is the next country to leave, which kind of suggests that the place was about to fall apart," said Gardner.
German foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in Brussels that Trump's comments "created agitation in Brussels" and caused worries at NATO.
The incoming US President claimed that the EU had become "basically a vehicle for Germany" and he criticised German Chancellor Angela Merkel for opening the doors to refugees as a "very catastrophic mistake." Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders slammed Trump's stance on NATO and the EU, saying both organisations are essential to global security.
Speaking in Brussels on Monday 16 January, Koenders described Trump's views as "worrying" and said it would be a "real mistake in an unsafe world to say that we no longer need NATO." "We can see that he has less faith in institutions such as the UN, NATO, and the EU. How that translates in practice remains to be seen," Koenders said. On her part, EU High Representative said she thinks that the European Union will stick together.
"I am one hundred per cent convinced of this. I respect the opinion of the future President of the United States but I think that the European Union will be ok in the future," she told reporters.
John Bruton, former Prime minister of Ireland, in a report published by the Brussels-based think-tank Friends of Europe, said the US administration "seems to be headed in the opposite direction, giving visible support to political parties that would break up the EU." He noted that Trump welcomed Nigel Farage, a British politician who has long campaigned against the EU, before he met any other European leader and he condemned that meeting as "a clear and hostile signal." "(Russian President) Putin and Trump seem to share the same view of the European Union," wrote Bruton.
He warned that 2017 will see the clash of big-power nationalisms, triggered by Donald Trump's forthcoming inauguration as the 45th President of the United States.
"The most immediately striking characteristic of the Trump administration is its attitude to China. Since the election, he has sought to use Taiwan as a bargaining chip in negotiations with China. Adding a conflict over the island's status to this mix could have very unpredictable results," he warned.
Stefan Lehne, visiting scholar at the think-tank Carnegie Europe, called on the EU to take Trump's arrival as US president "as a major wake-up call to upgrade its foreign and security policies." He warned that the "greatest immediate danger is that the Trump administration may enter into deals with Moscow, particularly on Ukraine, that increase Eastern Europe's dependence on Russia and ultimately divide the continent into two zones of influence." In addition, said Lehne, the incoming Trump administration may try to take apart the 2014 Iran nuclear deal and step up US economic and political pressure on Tehran, creating serious new regional tensions.
Analysts opine that without the participation of the US there would have been be no deal on Iran's nuclear programme. In the same logic if the US withdraws from it the deal is most likely to collapse.
Finally, it seems that after the shock of Trump's election victory and self-delusion expectations that he might change once in the White House, the EU totally lacks any vision and preparedness on how to stand up to the incoming US administration on a range of global issues and topics. (end) nk.gta