Dislike as policy

Europe as an enemy: “USA not on our side”

Putin and Trump agree: liberal Europe is a hindrance to their plans.(Bild: EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV)

The USA has increased the pressure on Europe enormously on several fronts in recent days. In particular, a new strategy paper paints our continent as the enemy. Initial voices see the transatlantic partnership coming to an end.

US President Donald Trump has never made a secret of his dislike of Europe's political elite. On the contrary: he has now even put it in writing. The new US national security strategy was published last week and outlines the continent as an enemy. The US government wants to support the "resistance" in Europe against Europe's current political course.

At the same time, the Trump administration warns of a "civilizational extinction" of Europe. The US also denounces the alleged "censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition" in Europe. The open demand: it is time for more nationalism.

Liberal Europe as the enemy
The EU is portrayed as an obstacle in the paper. Openly right-wing extremist parties such as the AfD are now to be supported. Washington also expresses doubts as to whether some European countries will be strong enough economically and militarily to be "reliable allies" in the future. While countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia are praised and positioned as substitute partners.

At the same time, Washington is concerned with business interests. "The EU should be abolished," Musk wrote on the online platform on Saturday. The EU Commission in Brussels had imposed a fine of 120 million euros on the company for lack of transparency. Brussels is known to want to restrict propaganda in social media.

US Vice President JD Vance is now accusing Europe of "censorship": "The EU should be supporting freedom of expression instead of attacking American companies for garbage." No wonder, as this "garbage" is great for making policy. The Trump government is known to be only too happy to seize on conspiracy theories and fake news.

Background

• The National Security Strategy is a document published by the US government at regular intervals.
• It outlines a president's foreign policy vision and serves as a guide for government decisions.

Alarm bells are now ringing in Europe. EU leaders were initially cautious. Chief diplomat Kaja Kallas reiterated that the "USA is still our greatest ally". However, she also emphasized that some of the criticism was "true". For example, Europe had underestimated its own power vis-à-vis Russia. "We should be more self-confident, that's for sure." In other words: We need to become more independent.

Is the USA still a reliable partner?
In Berlin, on the other hand, people are already talking more bluntly about the Americans. CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen speaks of a "second turning point". For the first time since the Second World War, the USA is no longer on the side of the Europeans, he told RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. 

The USA is no longer on the side of the Europeans.

Norbert Röttgen

Bild: AFP

In view of the new Trump-Putin tug-of-war, the German spoke of a "moment of destiny" that would put Europe's self-image to the test. "The aim is to influence our internal constitution according to the current ideological guidelines of the MAGA movement and to this end to work together with the internal enemies of liberal democracy in Europe - in Germany this is the AfD."

Kickl calls for concessions and renunciation of the EU
And in Austria? The FPÖ is particularly pleased with the events there. Party leader Herbert Kickl believes that the US demands must be complied with: "Federal Chancellor Stocker must immediately put a stop to the destructive foreign policy ghost trip of the NEOS under Meinl-Reisinger, Brandstätter and Co. He must not stand by for one minute longer while his pink loser traffic light partners ruin diplomatic and economic relations with the USA," it says in a press release.

The changes made to the US strategy are "largely in line" with Russia's view, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also explained on Russian state TV channel Rossiya. Putin's most important man for the USA, Kirill Dmitriev, smugly declared "EU bureaucrats" to be enemies of "freedom of expression" - without mentioning that censorship is the order of the day in Russia.

"The EU is under attack from all sides. Russian warmongers are teaming up with American tech executives and anti-European MAGA politicians. It seems as if the EU is the last bastion of sanity in a sea of lies, propaganda and corruption where only the law of the jungle applies," explained geopolitics expert Janis Kluge.

Trump's son Donald Jr. made his family's interests regarding Ukraine and Europe more than clear at a forum in Doha on Sunday: the USA would no longer be "the idiot with the checkbook" ...