US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on 20 January, gave a rather bitter taste this weekend of his future policy with regard to Europe. He did not hide his enthusiasm about Brexit, and is making the UK a privileged partner of the US. He also criticised Germany’s choice of welcoming migrants on a massive scale, and said he thought NATO was obsolete.
On the eve of entering the White House, Trump does not spare the EU in his vitriolic interviews with German and British daily newspapers, Bild and The Times, published on Monday 16 January.
Firstly, Trump clearly chooses his privileged partner in Europe – the UK – and he hails the country's choice to leave the EU. “You look at the European Union and it’s Germany. [It's] basically a vehicle for Germany. That’s why I thought the UK was so smart in getting out. That’s why I think the UK was right to leave it (…) People, countries, want their own identity and the UK wanted its own identity. But, I do believe this, if they hadn’t been forced to take in all of the refugees, so many, with all the problems that it . . . entails, I think that you wouldn’t have a Brexit. This was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. . . I believe others will leave [the EU]”, Trump says.
“Brexit is going to end up being a great thing”, he insists, saying he is looking forward to meeting British Prime Minister Theresa May so he can conclude a trade agreement with the UK “quickly and properly”. His words cut with those of outgoing President Barack Obama, who had said that the UK would find itself at the back of the queue when it came to concluding free trade agreements with the US, if the UK left the EU.
Trump openly says describes German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to host “all the illegal migrants”, some of which had fled the conflict in Syria, as a “catastrophic mistake”. “I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals, you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from. And nobody even knows where they come from. I do not want to do like Germany. I have a lot of respect for Angela Merkel. But I find what has happened there very unfortunate. I do not want us to find ourselves in the same situation. We already have enough problems like that”, he says.
Trump also uses protectionist speech which is unlikely to please Germany much, where Merkel has strongly argued in favour of the negotiations for an EU-US free trade agreement (TTIP). "Germany is a great country, a great producer country. When you go on 5th Avenue [New York] you see everyone has a Mercedes parked up in front, isn't that true? But the fact is, [the Germans] are very unfair with the US. How many Chevrolets [are there] in Germany? Not many, maybe not even one. You don't see a single one of them outside. This has to work in both directions. I just want it to be fair. [Germany can] manufacture cars for the US, but [it will have] to pay 35% tax on each car that enters the US", Trump warns.
In addition, he attacks Europe on international issues, deploring Germany's choice to host refugees rather than campaign for no-fly zones in Syria. He condemns the sanctions because "Russia is hurting very badly right now", and he criticises NATO as an "obsolete" organisation "because it is not dealing with terrorism (...) and because its member countries do not pay what they should".
Berlin and Paris assert unity of EU27. In response, Merkel promised on Monday "to continue to commit for the 27 member states to work together for the future (...) in the face of the challenges of the 21st century". "My positions on transatlantic issues are well-known". [Trump] has once again set his out. And when he is in office, we will of course work with the new US government and see what agreements we can reach", she added, rejecting any link between the terrorist threat in Europe and the refugees fleeing war in Syria.
"The best way to defend Europe – and it is what Trump is asking us to do – is to remain united, to make a bloc, not to forget that Europeans' strength is their unity", French foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said on the side-lines of the EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on Monday. "Managing the world's affairs requires ever more regulation and consultation, in other words, fulfilling multilateralism, and not a return to nationalism and every man for himself", he added. "We will have to show [Trump] the EU's added value", his Belgian counterpart, Didier Reynders, stated. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)