In Budapest, around forty leaders from the Old Continent gathered on Thursday November 7 for an informal summit, that of the European Political Community. Chaired by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who praised the arrival of Donald Trump to power in the United States, this summit is an opportunity to gauge European unity. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, the only European leader whose intervention was broadcast, called for a start, for an awakening of the Old Continent.
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European leaders converged on Thursday, November 7, towards Budapest with the hope of displaying a relatively united front in the face of the return of Donald Trump at the White House, aware that their disagreements will be so many breaches into which the Republican billionaire will not fail to rush.
The day after a spectacular political comeback which stunned America and the world, around forty heads of state and government are present in the Hungarian capital for a summit of the European Political Community (EPC), before a more restricted conclave with only the 27 members of the EU this November 8.
Many challenges for Europeans
Become support forUkrainethreat of military disengagement, return of customs duties, environmental issues: the upcoming arrival in Washington of the unpredictable businessman, four years after the end of his first mandate, places the European Union (EU) and the countries that are close to it face dizzying challenges. Despite repeated calls in recent months for greater European “strategic autonomy,” the bloc seems caught off guard by a second term it hoped would be avoidable. At the Franco-German level, the famous couple, without whom the European machine inevitably seizes up, is already in bad shape.
In France, Emmanuel Macron is weakened after the defeat of his camp during the legislative elections. In Germany, Olaf Scholz has just dismissed its Finance Minister Christian Lindner, signaling the end of the coalition with the liberals, and the country is heading towards early elections. The French president took the initiative to speak with the German chancellor as soon as Donald Trump’s victory was achieved, to jointly affirm the need for a ” Europe more united, stronger, more sovereign in this new context “.
The question of strategic autonomy
The French president has been pleading for greater European strategic autonomy for a long time, recalls our special correspondent in Budapest, Carlotta Morteo. But can the election of Donald Trump, whose policy promises to be more isolationist, more protectionist, serve as an electric shock for Europeans? This is what Emmanuel Macron hopes.
“ This is a decisive moment in history. Do we want to read history written by others ? The wars launched by Vladimir Putinthe American elections, the choices made by the Chinese in technological and commercial terms, or do we want to write History ? If we decide to be aware of what we represent geopolitically, commercially, it is an incredible power. »
Hoping to convince his partners that he knows are divided and transform incantatory speeches into actions, Emmanuel Macron spins the metaphor: “ The world is made up of herbivores and carnivores. If we decide to remain herbivores, the carnivores will win and we will be a market for them. I think at least it wouldn’t be bad to choose to be omnivores. I don’t want to be aggressive. I just want us to know how to defend ourselves. I do not want to leave Europe as a formidable theater, inhabited by herbivores, which carnivores, according to their agenda, will come to devour. »
Faced with a Donald Trump who wants to introduce customs taxes, and a China which overwhelms the European market with its products, the French president calls on Europe to emancipate itself from the great powers.
But beyond this stated desire, the risk of disunity within the 27 is real, and Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, 2025, should not hesitate to encourage them. This risk of disunity is particularly feared in economic matters, in the face of “ shock of customs duties ” announcement. Donald Trump, who during the campaign compares the EU to a “ mini-China » which abuses its American ally by accumulating massive trade surpluses, says it wants to increase customs duties between 10 and 20% for all products entering the United States.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbanwho has never stopped showing his support for his “ friend » from Florida and immediately greeted his “ resounding success », plays a singular and perilous score in Budapest by receiving European leaders. The attitude of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyenwhose detractors criticize too much Atlanticism, is also closely scrutinized during this first post-American election summit. Sending his congratulations “ warm » to Donald Trump, she remained very cautious in her first reaction, limiting herself to reaffirming the importance of “ partnership between people » European and American.
Bringing together beyond EU borders
The objective of the CPE, initially imagined by Emmanuel Macron, is to bring together much more broadly than the European Union. Beyond the 27 members of the bloc, around twenty countries were invited. Countries with radically different trajectories towards the EU: declared candidates for membership, countries which know that the door is closed to them for a long time and the United Kingdom, which has chosen to leave with a bang .
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoganwho congratulated his “ friend » Donald Trump, was one of the leaders present for this 5th edition. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskywhose country fears a drop in American aid, also went to Budapest.
(and with AFP)