U.S. President Donald Trump's barrage of attacks on the European Union (EU), from migration to regulation, and with a new national security strategy, codify a seismic shift in transatlantic relations, a European expert said Friday.
Released last week, the U.S. policy document claims Europe faces "civilisational erasure" within the next two decades and criticized Europe's crackdown on far-right forces as political "censorship." It says the U.S. will "cultivate resistance" in the bloc to "correct its current trajectory."
In an interview with Politico published Tuesday, Trump has once again provoked outrage among his European allies, describing them as "weak" and leading a "decaying" group of nations, criticizing the region's response to immigration and the war in Ukraine.
The United States also signaled its support for far-right forces in Europe, which shocked Europe even more. Trump said that he would continue to support European politicians whom he sees as more capable.
In response, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the U.S. president should not interfere into democratic processes in the EU member countries.
Sven Biscop, acting director-general of the Royal Institute for International Relations, a government-dependent and non-profit Brussels-based think tank, expressed his concern about U.S. interference in the internal affairs of European countries in an interview with CGTN.
"I think what upsets Europeans most is the very explicit promise in the national security strategy of the U.S. that the Americans will intervene in our domestic policies to cultivate resistance, they say, basically against the European Union. And that kind of intervention or domestic politics cannot be tolerated," Biscop said.
Biscop believes the United States' repeated criticisms and contemptuous remarks towards Europe indicate a structural shift in its strategic positioning of Europe, suggesting a potential decisive rift in U.S.-EU relations and a weakening or even collapse of their alliance.
"But it will never be the alliance as we knew it during the Cold War. That will not come back. It's no longer the case that whatever happens, the U.S. and the EU will always agree, or will always be on the same side. That's a really big structural change," he said.
New U.S. national security strategy represents shift in transatlantic relations: expert
New U.S. national security strategy represents shift in transatlantic relations: expert
New U.S. national security strategy represents shift in transatlantic relations: expert
Japan's ongoing push to revise its pacifist constitution and expand military buildup escalate regional tension, warned Japanese lawyer Kyoko Oe, who urged adherence to pacifism and vigilance against the government's dangerous moves.
Since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office last October, the Japanese government has renewed its push to revise the country's pacifist constitution and accelerated a series of military expansion measures, including increasing defense spending, deploying long-range missiles, and easing restrictions on arms exports.
Speaking on the dangerous policy shifts, Oe criticized the Takaichi administration for bypassing public will.
"We believe that when Japanese citizens are not demanding constitutional reform, pushing it forward through a parliamentary majority clearly violates the principle of popular sovereignty and the obligation to respect the constitution. Moreover, the content of the revision itself is extremely dangerous. [The government] is attempting to change pacifist principles of the Japanese constitution -- the most fundamental part -- and abandon basic concepts, including the renunciation of war and not maintaining military forces," said Oe.
The Japanese government has aggressively accelerated war readiness even under the current constitution, said Oe, adding that amending it will grant the Self-Defense Forces even greater freedom of action at the constitutional level.
"If the constitution is amended, the Self-Defense Forces will gain greater freedom of action at the constitutional level than they have now, and legal interpretations will develop in that direction. Even while the current constitution remains effective, the Japanese government has already forcibly advanced war preparations. For example, manufacturing long-range missiles, which were previously considered unacceptable to possess, and deploying them domestically; conducting joint war games and military exercises with the United States; and massively manufacturing and exporting weapons overseas," said Oe.
The lawyer also criticized Takaichi's provocative remarks on China, saying they have sharply strained bilateral ties and undermined peace and stability in the region.
"We believe that due to Takaichi's remarks made last November, China-Japan relations have become very tense and are deteriorating. Legal experts believe that Takaichi's remarks contain multiple obvious errors. Takaichi should frankly retract the relevant remarks and apologize. Only by building mutual trust with neighboring countries can we maintain our peace, and the peace of East Asia and even the peace of Asia. We believe that what the Takaichi administration is doing runs completely counter to what the Japanese people truly wish to achieve," Oe said.
Japan's constitution revision, military buildup fuel regional tensions: lawyer
