TRUMP IN EUROPE
MIROSŁAW PIOTROWSKI
Donald Trump did not pay much attention to meetings with Brussels clerks, such as Donald Tusk or Jean-Claude Juncker.
Donald Trump arrived in Europe. Earlier the president of the United States had visited Saudi Arabia and Israel which, certainly, had its political symbolism. However, these are not guests which are so important. Donald Trump appeared in Brussels in order to participate in the summit NATO meeting. He used this occasion to remind allies about financial commitments. They include necessity to allocate 2 per cent of the domestic gross product for defence. Poland meets this requirement but a lot of other countries do not. For example, Germany has a problem with it, which has been promising to meet the requirement for a long time, but in a longer time run. In the capital city of Belgium the American president was saying that it is dishonest towards the American tax-payer.
Then, during the summit meeting of G7, that is, the richest countries, in Sicilia, he announced that the United States would withdraw from the climatic agreement from Paris, and he did not give any hope to finalize a contract about free trade between the EU and the USA, that is, TTIP. Moreover he refused to participate in the final traditional press conference. Whereas statements of Trump slipped into press, in which he complained about the trade surplus of Germany in relations with the USA. ‘See, how many millions of cars are sold in the USA. Terrible. We must put the end to it’ – he said. ‘Bad, very bad Germans’ – he concluded.
So, can disapproving comments in German newspapers be surprising as well as critical statements of politicians, especially chancellor Angela Merkel or her competitor for the same office Martin Schulz? The latter one stated that Donald Trump used a political blackmail. And gently anyway, when comparing to the behavior of Mr. Schulz in the European Parliament, and not only as its chairperson. After all, it was not long time ago when he stated that the European spirit should be introduced by force (mit Macht durchsetzen’). And here it turns out that in the case of Trump it is in vain. What is more, Donald Trump did not pay much attention to meetings with Brussels clerks, such as Donald Tusk or Jean-Claude Juncker. Both of them wanted to make their guest get interested in something, while it turned out to be embarrassing. In the light of cameras, Tusk was boasting that the European Union had two presidents and Juncker said at once that too many by one, indicating just Donald Tusk. Well, Donald Trump returned to the States and another one – Donald Tusk – has stayed.
AA
„Niedziela” 24/2017