Budapest, Nov. 7, (dpa/GNA) – Donald Trump’s White House return is to overshadow a Budapest gathering of European leaders on Thursday and Friday after he roared to a comeback victory in the US presidential elections.
European leaders are headed to the Hungarian capital for the fifth meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) as well as an informal summit of EU leaders.
Originally talks were scheduled to address the economy, migration, recent elections in Georgia, the spiralling conflict in the Middle East, and the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
However, the return of Trump has ripped up this agenda as European leaders, especially in the European Union and those bordering Russia, struggle to absorb the uncomfortable outcome of the US elections and what it means for trans-Atlantic relations.
The incoming US president has repeatedly questioned the United States’ security commitments to NATO in anger over low defence spending by European allies.
Trump has also criticized US President Joe Biden for providing military aid to Ukraine and claimed on the campaign trail that he could end the war in one day, provoking worries Ukraine may be pressured to surrender.
In addition, Trump has also called for a US tariff hike on all imports as high as 10% and 20%, arguing that the US is being treated unfairly by the EU and other trading partners.
One EU leader pleased with Trump’s return is the gathering’s host, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the most vocal supporter of the incoming US president in the EU, despite concerns in many other European countries.
Orbán greeted Trump’s victory with a call for the EU to develop a new strategy on Ukraine.
Over 40 leaders have been invited to the EPC although not all attendances have been confirmed. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will not be there after the disastrous floods in Spain.
The stage for the fifth meeting of the EPC is the Puskás Arena, a football stadium where the informal EU leaders’ summit will also take place the next day.
At the informal summit, EU leaders will try to agree on a new strategy to revamp the bloc’s economic competitiveness but events in Washington are more likely to take precedent.
GNA