The Washington Post: The Davos hustle and bustle were a shock treatment for Europe
According to David Ignatius, US President Donald Trump’s efforts to control the Danish island of Greenland, and his statements on the subject at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, were an occasion for Europe to begin to reconsider its relationship with the United States.
In his article at the Washington Post, Ignatius wrote that what he called President Trump’s failure on Greenland and his volatile and arrogant behavior did Europe an unintended favor, which realized how much it needed independence from the unreliable America.
While on the scene, Ignatius noted that members of the US delegation were walking around Davos like a victorious army, and that Trump was at the forefront with his inflammatory remarks about Greenland before backing down from the threat of using force to control it.
But what is important for the author is that the forum witnessed an outright European rebellion against Trump, as the Europeans confronted his plans on Greenland, expressed their positions with harsh frankness regarding the need to reconsider the relationship with the American partner, and stopped believing that their economies would recover if they continued the same relationship with the US.
Trump’s attempt to seize Greenland was a shock to Europe, breaking the state of negativity and submissiveness that had prevailed in the relationship between the two parties.
President Trump thus backed down from his request for ownership of the island of Greenland, after his efforts were met with united opposition from European leaders and a decline in the prices of US stocks and bonds.
According to Ignatius, the Greenland dossier was just a US political maneuver, but it was a wake-up call that finally woke Europeans up to take control of their own destiny and begin the economic reforms they need to survive as prosperous nations.
Europe’s economic recession has been a recurring theme at Davos for 25 years, and he said it would be difficult to change that situation if Europe decided to disengage economically from America.
Ignatius continued, that during the first year of his second term, President Trump has disrupted relations between the two parties, turning the alliance with Europe into a series of humiliating measures that included tariffs and a torrent of demands and insults.
European leaders have been in this situation for most of the past year, but this week they have reached the point of boredom, and expressed it in blunt terms, as French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that Europe needs to reform its economy, which is still lagging behind the US economy, but praised Europe’s reliability and system, in stark contrast to Trump’s destabilizing policies.
The Greenland affair was the spark that ignited the anger of Europeans, but the deeper anger stemmed from what Macron called economic dependence at a time when Trump is pursuing a radical expansionist policy.
European leaders are becoming aware that they are being left behind by the US-powered economic boom, and they are aware that EU rules and regulations, and a heavy tax burden are all hampering the growth they need.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the Davos forum that Europe needs an urgent mindset regarding economic reform and must accelerate its quest for independence.
The world has changed forever and we have to change with it.
