Europe is closely watching the election campaign in the United States.
Relationship of Donald trump with the European Union can not be called smooth, the White house found a lot of reasons for criticism of the EU, international institutions and treaties in the field of security than irritated European leaders. Now Brussels is waiting for the presidential elections in the United States, hoping that the victory will be won by the candidate from Democrats.
Pandemic coronavirus not only almost completely nullified the achievements of Donald trump in the national economy, but also exacerbated some problems of the United States in foreign policy direction. In the election campaign the President enters is not the most favorable background.
It’s not just about the protests in the United States, the country’s leadership for the number of cases of mers and deaths, the highest level of unemployment since the great depression, but also about deteriorating relations with the main partner on the world stage — the European Union.
That the summit could become the first full-time event, where after months of quarantine would meet the leaders of the world member countries “seven.”
“Now, when our country “back to greatness”, I’m thinking about postponing the G7 for the same or a similar date in Washington, DC, in the legendary camp David. Other participants also start their comeback. This would be a great sign for all — normalization!” — wrote trump on Twitter may 20, and started sending invitations.
However, the proposal the White house rejected German Chancellor Angela Merkel and thereby destroyed the plans of trump’s triumphant return to the political season. The official position of Berlin is due to concerns about the coronavirus. However, there is another version of the position of the Chancellor: she fears that impatience trump due to the desire to use the summit as a vivid and demonstrative gesture in his campaign.
the Head of the White house, in General, inclined to resort to such dramatic elements the PR strategy.
a few days after the statement of readiness to mobilize the military to suppress the protests, he walked to the Church of St. John, to be photographed with a Bible in his hand.
anyway, the rejection by the Chancellor of the invitation was yet another episode in a long series of contradictions between the two leaders and, in General, the US and the EU.
So, trump criticized Merkel for defence spending of Germany, stating that Germany does not pay “their fair share” in the framework of its commitments to NATO. The White house ridiculed the statement of the President of France about the need to expand European security and expressed nedovolstin the size of import duties of Paris wine, interfered in the process Brexit, supporting British eurosceptics and declaring “unfair” conditions from Europe.
Europe is irritated by the selfish approach of the us President on the external direction. For example, the US withdrawal from the agreements in the security sphere (DRM, DON and especially JCPOA due which EU leaders are faced with the need to protect Iran’s economy from sanctions of the USA).
Soon after the failure of Angela Merkel to visit in June Washington trump even stated that summit carries for the fall. And in the words of the President of the United States sounded a note of resentment.
“I’m putting it off because I don’t feel that the G7 adequately represents what is happening in the world,” said the US President told reporters.
five months before elections in the United States transatlantic relations Washington reached its minimum. Overall, one of the trends of the presidency, trump became a permanent contradictions with the EU, though often concealed.
Values of the White house in many respects do not coincide with the views of EU leaders on the most important areas — safety, environment and relations with other countries.
during the whole time the EU leaders were sending US signals about their increasing discontent of those or other actions of the White house. From Angela Merkel and President of France Emmanuel Makron began to come the statement that Europe should rely more on themselves.
the more time that passed, the more I realized Brussels that trump has invested in its slogan: “America first.”
the Situation is aggravated by harsh statements trump Twitter — the White house does not burden ourselves with diplomatic courtesy.
Pandemic coronavirus has exposed problems in the relationship of the parties: irritation of the European Union and selfishness trump.
In March, Germany accused the US of trying to seize the rights to develop vaccines against coronavirus. In March, Welt am Sonntag reported that Washington is trying to lure German company CureVac, which is developing vaccines to obtain exclusive rights.
In April, French and German politicians accused the United States to intercept shipments of protective medical masks.
the Announcement by the President came as a surprise to the leaders of the EU. Europe simply could not look ahead to trump and it caused chaos at European airports, that probably only contributed to the spread of coronavirus in the EU.
the US withdrawal from the Treaty on open skies, European policymakers have demonstrated that even in times of crisis trump is able to destabilize the situation in the field of security. The European Union criticized the decision of the President of the United States and demanded that he return to the performance of the contract.
Finally, is not conducive to a coordinated response to the pandemic, which they say all the world leaders and the pressure of trump on China and who. The White house accused Beijing of concealing information about the coronavirus, requires to investigate its origin and criticizes the who, halting financing organizations in the US.
Disregard the trump international institutions was another reason for discontent of Europeans. The head of the White house do things one-on-one, but group negotiations are not encouraged to negotiate the most favorable terms.
the U.S. state Department insists that relations with Europe remain strong. Last month.
the Agency reported weekly telephone conversations of under Secretary of state Stephen Bihun with representatives of the European Commission.
“These conversations allowed the United States and our transatlantic allies and partners to share ideas and best practices in response to unique and complex problems arising from global pandemic, and plan for the safe opening of our economies and trade”, — stated in the message of the state Department.
meanwhile, the existing differences remain. Perhaps, the EU simply decided to put aside their unresolved disputes and wait for the presidential elections in the United States. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen never visited Washington since taking office on 1 December.
“the EU understands that, in strategic terms, the US actions do not change, but Biden will be a more comfortable partner and negotiator for the European leaders, and Biden they expect to get more than they deserve and more than they can get from trump — said in a conversation with “Газетой.Ru” the Director of the Center for comprehensive European and international studies Timofey Bordachev.
however, if trump wins the election, the next four years the EU will have to find him a different approach.
“They feel threatened by Russia, because they know that very badly behaved towards Russia over the years. So will still fear Russian pressure and they need the protection of the United States. In addition, the United States is very firmly present in Eastern Europe and Ukraine, and the Western Europeans also will need to take this into account, regardless of who is President. If a President trump, for the Europeans it will be much harder than in the case of Biden, but once agree they still have” — sums up the expert.
