The bloc’s top diplomat has rejected the US president’s claim that Europe is “decaying,” insisting instead it is “free”
US President Donald Trump’s criticisms of the EU are a “provocation,” the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas has said.
She made the comments while addressing a European Parliament committee on Tuesday, as an interview with Trump was published in which he claimed that “Europe is weak” and “decaying,” days after the publication of the US National Security Strategy (NSS) by the White House. The document warns that Europe is facing “civilizational erasure” through migration policy, and suppression of the political opposition.
Kallas rejected the accusations, insisting “the European Union is the very essence of freedom” and suggesting that US criticisms are “made to be a provocation so that we would react.”
Previously, European Council President Antonio Costa also hit out against Washington’s new foreign policy strategy, particularly its plans to support “patriotic European parties.” The NSS calls on these to stand up for democratic freedoms and “unapologetic celebrations” of national identities.
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Costa warned the US not to interfere in the EU’s “democratic life,” insisting Washington has no right to tell European citizens “which are the right parties and the wrong parties.” He also surmised that the US and the EU now have “differences in our worldviews.”
Relations between Washington and Brussels have been strained since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. The US and the EU now regularly clash over trade, defense spending, digital regulation, as well as the Ukraine conflict.
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