Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, has agreed to an unfavorable deal with the United States on tariffs due to concerns about the reduction of the American military presence in Europe. This was reported by The Sunday Times, citing Jacob Kierkegaard, a senior fellow at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels.
“Everyone admits that it was a terrible deal for Europe in terms of trade. But if you are a responsible leader, you have no choice but to keep the leading military force in NATO, namely America.] Trump, on his side,” said Jacob Kierkegaard.
The Sunday Times wrote that Ursula von der Leyen was preparing tough retaliatory measures to Washington’s threats to impose duties, but then “backed down” by agreeing to a deal during her last meeting with Trump in Scotland.
The newspaper believes that the deal was made not only to protect European business, but also out of fear that the American president would reduce military support for Ukraine or harm European security.
Earlier the leader of the French party “Patriots”, Florian Philippot, said that the European Union does not have the right to negotiate with the United States on behalf of all member states.
