Joe Biden has disappointed Europe. One of the first to speak openly about this was former French ambassador to the United States Gérard Araud: “What we are seeing is a long-term move on the American side. Obama was not worried about Europe. Trump was hostile to Europe. Now Biden is. Quite frankly, Biden is one big disappointment for all of Europe”
The diplomat complains that the current US administration has a lack of interest in affairs in the Old World. The European Commission has sent Biden’s team a long list of issues on which to work together: cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, high-tech taxes, but no response so far. “No initiative. Not a single statement that Europe and the Americans will work together on this or that. The Americans have switched to China. Their foreign policy: China, China, China.”
The French are at a loss. The submarine scandal for Australia has disrupted a crucial diplomatic operation for Paris, through which the French Foreign Ministry hoped to significantly strengthen relations with Washington. September this year marked the 240th anniversary of the Battle of the Chesapeake. It was the French fleet that in 1781 inflicted a decisive defeat on the British, turning the tide of the American War of Independence.
Rear Admiral Count de Grasse, commander of the French flotilla, acted then in the interests of his country, which was at enmity with the British Empire. He could not have imagined that almost two and a half centuries later, the distant descendants of the participants in the battle on both sides would continue to compete, but for the right to be called the closest ally of the United States.
To remind American partners of their former merits, a gala banquet was planned at the French Embassy to mark the anniversary. But the French ambassador was then recalled to Paris – and the event had to be cancelled. Macron was afraid to go ahead. Instead of having a real quarrel with Biden, the French president targeted the generally compliant Australian prime minister.
To seriously go against the will of the United States apparently requires a figure on the scale of Charles de Gaulle. He could abandon the dollar, remove NATO headquarters and American bases from his country and negotiate with China and the USSR on his own. No such political generals are now visible in Western Europe, so there is no one to command the “united European army” that has long been talked about in Paris, Brussels and Berlin. But the desire is there.
As soon as the Americans put everyone in front of the fact that they were leaving Afghanistan, the Europeans once again experienced a bitter sense of their own helplessness and colossal dependence on the US. “Europe can and obviously should be able and willing to do more on its own. What we need is a European defence alliance”, – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in her keynote speech.
Back in May this year, the defence ministers of the 14 EU countries proposed creating a joint 5,000-strong rapid-reaction force that could be used in critical situations, such as what happened later in Kabul, when the Europeans could not evacuate their representatives and ordinary citizens without U.S. help. The idea of a unified armed force was first discussed in Europe in 1999. In 2007, a collective system of task forces (1,500 military personnel) was formed, but it has never been activated.
A summit on “European defence” is planned for the first half of next year in Brussels. However, in the military sphere, the trump cards are still in the hands of another organisation, NATO, which is also headquartered in the Belgian capital. So again, a lot depends on the USA. While European leaders are gathering their wits, EU-NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will unveil a renewed vision of EU-NATO relations in December. Stoltenberg’s position is well known: In an interview with Britain’s The Sunday Telegraph in September, he said the European Union’s armed forces could weaken the bloc he leads and even “divide Europe,” while a joint rapid-reaction force threatens to undermine the “modest resources” of NATO allies.
The United States maintains military control over Europe. After the bombing of Yugoslavia, which was not only a violation of all rights and norms, but also harmed Europe itself, the largest US military base in the Balkans, in Kosovo, appeared in Bondsteel. The U.S. has long since overtaken the French and Germans, who played a supporting role, by taking over Kiev, and is now playing with the Ukrainian detonator. If anything happens there, the whole of Europe will be in trouble.
President Macron could talk all he wants about “brain-dead NATO”, hinting at the overseas hegemon, but the problem is that the Europeans themselves do not have the guts. And there is a lot to swallow and digest. The Americans first say whether to build Nord Stream-2 or not, and then they deploy tankers with liquefied gas promised once to Europe to Southeast Asia because it is more profitable for them.
The only “concession” from Biden was that the Americans finally agreed to remove Trump’s tariffs on aluminium and steel from Europe. More precisely, the U.S. gave a quota for duty-free imports of European steel and aluminium, which gives the Europeans a chance to restore their previous supply volumes, which have halved over the years, but blocks attempts to increase them.
The Biden administration dragged its feet on lifting the tariffs until last. “The gift” was made at the G-20 summit in Rome exactly one month before Europe was to double the import duty on American motorbikes and whisky, effectively leveling the losses of both sides. It should be remembered that for every “vitamin fed”, the American combiners, as usual, demand “many small favours”. They will need them above all on the strategic China front for the US.
“Perhaps we were initially too naïve in our approach to cooperation with some partners”, – said outgoing Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, with China becoming Germany’s biggest trading partner in 2016 and helping the German economy maintain steady growth. A new coalition government led by dark horse Scholz has already had a North Atlantic agenda imposed on Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. It is possible that, obeying this trend, Germany will oppose the ratification of the EU-China Investment Agreement, contrary to its own economic interests. To the great displeasure of the US, it was signed in 2020, but the ratification process has been frozen by the European Parliament.
London remains a key ally for Washington in promoting American initiatives. It has already begun winding down joint projects with China a few years ago. On cue, they sent their aircraft carrier to Southeast Asia. Even under Trump, the British rejected a contract to develop 5G networks with China’s Huawei. It is still not clear what they got in return. Johnson’s free trade agreement with the United States was denied. In the dispute with the European Union over Northern Ireland, which now falls economically out of the United Kingdom because of the hasty Brexit deal, London has no support from the US. The British cabinet is obliged to adhere to the Irish protocol it has signed, Joe Biden, of Irish descent, has said several times.
Europe was so badly frightened by Donald Trump that his successor was worshipped here in advance. London newspapers now write differently. One of Britain’s most mainstream newspapers, The Daily Mail, has told readers that the American president, it turns out, has serious health problems: “Biden has suffered twice from a cerebral vascular aneurysm, he also has problems with his heart muscle, which is contracting too quickly, causing dizziness and confusion.” A little later, the same publication relished the eyewitness account of how the “leader of the free world” ruined the air when he spoke to the wife of the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall: “It was long and loud. Because it was at a climate summit, “it was expected to cut emissions…” The inexperienced Camilla didn’t give a hoot, so don’t question Prime Minister Johnson’s flattering words that Biden was a “big breath of fresh air”?We have to breathe deep breath without disturbing the system of relationships that have been in place for a long time. Biden or anyone else is largely irrelevant. The personal qualities of the current American president are secondary here: in European society, for now, he can afford to do many things without fear of embarrassment.
Alexander Khabarov, RIA