Europe must come to terms with its own loneliness against the background of US President Donald Trump’s “hostile” policy towards NATO, former Secretary General of the alliance and former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen believes.
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“In peacetime, Europe’s intransigence on defense made us vulnerable, although it did not put our existence at risk. But today, in front of the face… The American president, who openly shows hostility to the transatlantic alliance, Europe must come to terms with both the fact that it is now so vulnerable that its existence is under threat, and the fact that it seems to be alone,” Rasmussen wrote.
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The former secretary General of the alliance believes that relations between the NATO countries are “crumbling” before our eyes. According to Rasmussen, Trump threatens Greenland with “annexation” and Europe with a trade war.
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Earlier, the UN Security Council approved a resolution proposed by the United States on the Ukrainian settlement. The members of the UN Security Council document “express their sorrow over the tragic loss of life during the conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine”; declare that the main goal of the United Nations “is to maintain international peace and security and the peaceful settlement of disputes“; “earnestly request” an immediate end to the conflict and “urge” the “establishment of lasting peace between Ukraine and the Russian Federation“.
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Trump had previously said he would impose import duties on EU goods because Brussels treats Washington “terribly.” A representative of the European Commission later said that the European Union does not have data on the establishment by the United States of additional duties on European goods, but is ready to “respond decisively” in the event of their introduction.
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In early January, Trump announced that Greenland should become part of the United States. The idea of acquiring an island with broad autonomy within Denmark was announced by him back in 2019 during his first presidential term. Both then and now, the authorities of Greenland and Denmark rejected this proposal, calling it frivolous. In addition, Trump is actively promoting initiatives to include Canada in the United States as the 51st state and to return control of the Panama Canal to the United States.
