{"id":93285,"date":"2025-02-17T08:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T16:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/?p=93285"},"modified":"2025-02-17T06:17:26","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T14:17:26","slug":"europe-in-shock-as-trump-vance-push-friends-towards-becoming-enemies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/prophecy\/europe-in-shock-as-trump-vance-push-friends-towards-becoming-enemies\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe in shock as Trump-Vance push ‘friends’ towards becoming enemies"},"content":{"rendered":"

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COGwriter<\/a><\/p>\n

The Munich Security Conference has ended and many in Europe are in shock:<\/p>\n

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\u2018It\u2019s Trump\u2019s world\u2019: European leaders divided on how to navigate \u2018cacophony\u2019<\/h2>\n

17 February 2025<\/p>\n

Indeed, the consensus that emerged from Munich and its preceding days was Trump 2.0 is a far more disruptive and chaotic force than the worst fears of British, European and Middle Eastern diplomats. Abrupt and inchoate decisions in foreign policy follow one executive order after another. …<\/p>\n

\u00a0Nathalie Tocci, the head of the Italian thinktank IAI, questioned whether something more profound was under way between Europe and the US. \u201cOne interpretation about what has happened in the last few days is that maybe this US administration does not quite like us very much, and maybe if we act by spending more on defence, and all the rest of it, we can somehow rekindle US interest and perhaps even US affection for Europe, including Ukraine. That is the best case scenario,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut should we not consider there is a scenario out there, in which there is absolutely nothing we can do to rekindle that love, affection and interest, and therefore we are alone, facing a US administration that deliberately wants to weaken and divide us?\u201d<\/p>\n

Friedrich Merz, Germany\u2019s likely next chancellor after elections this month, did not go as far as Tocci, but accepted the Vance speech had broadened the points of issue between Europe and the US. \u201cDisagreements between the US and Europe have taken on a completely new quality,\u201d he said in his weekly email to supporters. https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/feb\/17\/its-trumps-world-european-leaders-divided-on-how-to-navigate-cacophony<\/a><\/p>\n

As US recedes, NATO scrambles to find a new leader<\/h2>\n

MUNICH \u2014 European officials say they get Donald Trump\u2019s point: They need to take care of their own defense \u2014 with less help from the Americans.<\/p>\n

But on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference this weekend, few European allies were raising their hands.<\/p>\n

It was the central question swirling through the crowded halls at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof: Who will be the continent\u2019s security provider if the U.S. military scales down its presence \u2014\u00a0or simply packs up and leaves<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is that person?\u201d said Giedrimas Jeglinskas, chair of the National Security and Defense Committee in Lithuania\u2019s parliament and a former NATO official. \u201cYou need to have some sort of hard power behind you to be really sitting at the table now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Germany has the continent\u2019s largest economy, but the jury is out on Berlin’s latest defense plans until after this month\u2019s election.\u00a0 …<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t hard for most Europeans to read between the lines. \u201cIt\u2019s clear where the United States is. It\u2019s not in Europe,\u201d said a former NATO official, who like others was granted anonymity to speak candidly about dynamics within the alliance. \u201cEurope is going to realize, \u2018…, we\u2019re on our own.\u2019\u201d 02\/16\/25 https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/us-recedes-nato-scrambles-find-new-leader-munich-security-conference\/<\/a><\/p>\n

MUNICH, Feb 16 (Reuters) – They should not have been surprised. Yet European officials have been left shocked and flat-footed by the Trump administration\u2019s\u00a0moves<\/a>\u00a0on Ukraine, Russia and European defence in recent days.<\/div>\n
At a major security conference in Munich at the weekend, there was a sense of dismay and disbelief – and a whiff of panic – among European delegates even as some tried to put a brave face on a dizzying few days of declarations and diplomacy. …<\/div>\n
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