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EU leaders have cautiously welcomed Donald Trump’s decision to drop his threat of tariffs against European allies and an apparent softening in his desire to seize Greenland, but they expressed concerns over ties with the US at an emergency summit to discuss the issue.
Europeans gathered in Brussels on Thursday evening were also digesting a blistering attack on them by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who accused them of failing to “lead in defense of freedom.”
The US president dropped his Greenland threats – which had prompted the EU to prepare tit-for-tat trade retaliation options – in exchange for talks on an increased military presence on the Danish Arctic island on Wednesday, deescalating the biggest crisis between the US and Europe in decades.
Antonio Costa, President of the European Council, who chaired the summit, said, “The European Union and the United States have long been partners and allies. We have built a transatlantic community built by history.” “We believe that relationships between partners and associates should be managed in a cordial and respectful manner.”
Costa said the EU would aim for “effective stabilization” of trade relations with the US to try to draw a line under disruption.
An EU official briefed on the private discussions said there was “a clear change in the mood in the room”.
“It became clear from the discussion among the leaders that when a situation like a few days ago happens, a calm but quick and firm response is required and it works,” the official said.
“We have learned something in the last days and weeks,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said upon arriving at the summit. “When Europe is not divided, when we stand together, and when we are clear and strong in our willingness to stand up for ourselves, results will be seen.”
“We have been working very closely with the US for many years but we have to work together respectfully without threatening each other. So I hope that within the framework of democracy and how we cooperate as allies, a political solution will be found.”
Frederiksen said that one outcome of the discussions was that “we need a permanent NATO presence in the Arctic region, including Greenland”.
Trump’s aggressive rhetoric about how he would “acquire” and “reclaim” Greenland if European countries stood in his way stunned European leaders and raised fears of a rift in the NATO alliance that has protected the continent for eight decades.
Upon arriving at the summit, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, “We have always accepted America’s leadership, it is absolutely natural.” “But it is very important for all of us to understand the difference between dominance and leadership.”
The dinner discussion, which addressed broader elements of his handling of the Greenland crisis, Trump’s controversial “Peace Board” initiative and his administration’s aggressive foreign policy, was punctuated by Zelensky’s first attack on countries that have provided his country with nearly €200 billion of military and financial aid through 2022.
Several leaders said it was important not to ignore the war in Ukraine while discussing Greenland.
In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos after meeting with Trump, the Ukrainian president said Europe was a “fragmented kaleidoscope of small and medium powers” and seemed “lost” in trying to convince Trump to force Russia to end the war.
Asked by the FT why Zelensky criticized Europe so harshly in his speech, a senior aide to the Ukrainian president said he wanted to spur Europe to action.
Europe, he said, had “a lot of power” but it consistently underestimated that power. “Every time we try to do something (in partnership) with Europe they are reluctant to act boldly as a unified force,” the official said. Instead, they looked to the US for “positive” signals about how to act.
“This is strange,” the officer said. “Europe is a great power, but it takes courage to admit it.”
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schuof said he understood Zelensky’s frustration.
“He has been waging a war for almost five years, a terrible war, which continues unabated, in which Russia’s aggression is certainly not slowing down,” he said. “The big question is whether he is willing to make peace. In the meantime we are talking to each other, Europe, the US and Ukraine. I understand his frustration but we are working very hard on this.”
Additional reporting by Laura Dubois in Brussels
