Concerns over freeze in European – US relations

When the administration of Democrat Joe Biden came to power in the United States at the beginning of the year, it raised hopes for a new beginning in US-European relations, which had deteriorated during the reign of Bieden’s predecessor, Donald Trump. The first signals were hopeful, but recently there have been dark clouds over relations between the two sides as both the United States and the European Union put their interests first. –

It will take time to resolve the entanglement, as the shadow of mistrust in EU-US relations has shifted since the signing of the US-British security agreement with Australia.

France is losing billions in deals

The United States, Britain and Australia recently announced the Indian-Pacific the establishment of a strategic partnership. The first initiative envisaged is to assist Australia in the construction of nuclear submarines using US and British technologies. To it France reacted sharply, which had begun talks to sell billions of dollars of submarines to Australia, but now the deal has been canceled.

After enormous tensions and the withdrawal of ambassadors from both the United States and Australia, France’s relations with the United States gradually smoothed. French President Emmanuel Macron and White House owner Joe Biden have called, spoken and decided to meet in Europe soon. The French ambassador has also returned to Washington. But the coolness still remains.

European Union officials are harsh in their rush to support France.

“Something in the transatlantic relationship is broken,” European Internal Market Commissioner Terry Bretton told CNN, while saying he would work to relaunch the partnership, even if there were areas where a pause and restart would be needed.

Macro response stroke

European Union leaders plan to hold joint talks with the United States on 5 October in Slovenia ahead of the forthcoming Western Balkans summit. Meanwhile, analysts warn that as the relationship cools down, Russia, China and other Western competitors could take advantage of it.

France, meanwhile, has signed an ambitious billions of euros worth these days protection agreement with Greecewhich includes, inter alia, Athens’ decision to purchase three French warships.

“Europe has a duty to defend its national, geographical, European interests on its own, and this is something it can only do if it develops the capacity to act without relying solely on NATO or UN contributions,” said Greek Prime Minister Kirka Micotakis.

French President Macrón emphasized that the agreement was not against anyone, but acknowledged that Europeans did not need to be naive and show that they could defend themselves and be respected.

“The United States is, and will remain, a great historical ally, but we need to see that for just over a decade now, the United States has been very focused on itself and has a strategic interest in China and the Pacific. That is their right, that is their sovereignty, but we would be naive or we would rather make a terrible mistake if we did not draw conclusions. ”

Paris later explained once again that concluding an agreement with Greece was not a response from the United States and that it had been planned for a long time, but simply coincided with the recent Australian agreement and was therefore only looking at the next step.

It’s about money

We asked our Latvian Radio colleague Artyom Konohov, who is currently in the United States, to comment on how much there is talk about this crisis in US-European relations in America itself.

“I would say that there is little talk about it in America, because there is quite a bit of talk in the United States about foreign policy in general. If you watch TV, other media, then the issues discussed here are more related to domestic politics – the budget, the infrastructure plan, the disagreements of the Democrats and the failure to agree, the fact that Biden has received a third vaccine in front of the camera.

However issues of international trade“How America can develop further, how to work with Europe, is all in the background, but it is important for industries, politicians, experts, because it is about money.”

Europe wants tariff dismantling

Konohov points out that currently the most important and difficult issue, which should be resolved by December, is the import duties or tariffs imposed by the United States on steel and aluminum imported from Europe. The European Union wants the abolition of import duties and is looking for an agreement similar to the one already concluded by the United States with Canada and Mexico.

“The issue of steel in particular is symbolic, because Trump once argued that steel produced in Europe was a threat to American security and that Europe could in no way agree to it. Europe says that we are not endangering American security in any way, because we are partners, allies, and therefore it would not be right to use such arguments in general, ”explains Konohov.

“Steel production is a politically sensitive issue. And it is important that this is resolved in such a way that it can be explained here to the industry, to its constituents, that there will be no job losses, but on the contrary, efforts are being made to normalize the situation and open up various markets. “

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