by Mish
Amusingly, the UK, France, and Hungary snubbed the meeting. And over the weekend Donald Trump met with Nigel Farage, poking a fiery stick right in the EU’s eyes.
Trump’s presidency is off to a great start.
Please consider Britain and France Snub EU’s Emergency Trump Meeting
Britain and France on Sunday night snubbed a contentious EU emergency meeting to align the bloc’s approach to Donald Trump’s election, exposing rifts in Europe over the US vote.
Hailed by diplomats as a chance to “send a signal of what the EU expects” from Mr Trump, the plan fell into disarray after foreign ministers from the bloc’s two main military powers declined to attend the gathering demanded by Berlin and Brussels.
Mr Trump at the weekend met Nigel Farage, the populist Brexit campaigner who has become the first foreign politician to meet the future US president. Carl Bildt, the former Swedish prime minister, tweeted: “If Trump wanted to look statesmanlike to Europe, receiving Farage was probably the worst thing he could [do].”
British foreign secretary Boris Johnson dropped out of the Brussels meeting, with officials arguing that it created an air of panic, while French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault opted to stay in Paris to meet the new UN secretary-general. Hungary’s foreign minister boycotted the meeting, labelling the response from some EU leaders as “hysterical”.
Mr Johnson’s refusal to attend will add to an already difficult relationship with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has told colleagues that he cannot bear to be in the same room as the British foreign secretary.
Other European leaders have openly criticised the incoming president. European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker last week accused Mr Trump of ignorance. “We must teach the president-elect what Europe is and how it works. I believe we’ll have two years of wasted time while Mr Trump tours a world he doesn’t know.”
Protests in Germany
EU Response to Trump
- UK, France, Hungary refuse to attend Emergency demanded by Berlin
- Nigel Farage met Trump becoming the first foreign politician to meet the future US president
- Protests in Germany
- Infighting between Boris Johnson and German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier
- Steinmeier tells colleagues that he cannot bear to be in the same room as the British foreign secretary.
- Hungary’s foreign minister labeled the emergency meeting “hysterical”.
Amusing Irony
Jean-Claude Juncker lectures Trump on “what Europe is and how it works.”
Trump’s presidency is off to a great start.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
