In 2024, Macron delivered a significant speech on Europe's strategic autonomy, urging Europeans to be lucid and "recognize that our Europe is mortal. It can die. It all depends on the choices we make, and those choices need to be made now."
PARIS, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- When Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term as U.S. president earlier this month, Europeans were plunged into a collective sense of anxiety.
This anxiety stemmed not only from the new U.S. administration's potential impact on transatlantic relations but also from a deeper identity crisis among Europeans, exacerbated by a lack of strategic autonomy.
ANXIOUS CONTINENT
When the U.S. Republican Party nominated Trump as its presidential candidate in 2024, France's Prospective and Innovation Foundation held a geopolitical forum. During the event, a participant referenced the book "The Geopolitics of Emotion," which argues that three fundamental human emotions, namely fear, humiliation and hope, are reshaping the world.
According to the author, Asia embodies hope, many developing countries experience humiliation, and Europe stands as an example of fear.
In June 2021, then U.S. President Joe Biden attended the G7 summit in Cornwall, Britain, marking his first meeting with U.S. allies' leaders. During the summit, he declared, "America is back," to which French President Emmanuel Macron responded, "For how long?"
Europe has long feared the decline of its civilization, and the change of government in Washington has only intensified this anxiety.
In 2024, Macron delivered a significant speech on Europe's strategic autonomy, urging Europeans to be lucid and "recognize that our Europe is mortal. It can die. It all depends on the choices we make, and those choices need to be made now."
Last November, after the 2024 U.S. election results were announced, Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief for The Economist, said on social media X, "France is right."
MULTIFACETED FEARS
In terms of security, having supported Ukraine for three years, Europe fears the new U.S. administration's abandonment or a peace agreement reached with Russia without Europe's involvement.
Prior to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on his X account, "Whatever the outcome, the era of geopolitical outsourcing is over."
For Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, acting president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), Tusk's remarks revealed the severity of the situation.
On the economic front, Europe fears the U.S. tariff stick.
"From the standpoint of America, the EU treats us very, very unfairly, very badly," said Trump in a virtual address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, adding, "And we're going to do something about it."
Ian Lesser, a political analyst at the GMF, said Trump's tariff threats are real and that Europe is far from ready.
"They're not prepared, no one really is. This very different approach to global trade upsets many cornerstones of the international economy, which has evolved over decades," he told the BBC.
Politically, Europe remains wary of U.S. interference.
U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, Trump's close ally, has frequently commented on the political affairs of many European countries on his social media platform X, including publicly supporting Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party on many occasions.
What's more, Trump's interest in acquiring Greenland has sounded alarm bells across Europe, underscoring significant tensions between the United States and its European allies.
This controversy, which centers on Greenland's sovereignty, has drawn widespread opposition from European leaders and fuelled concerns about Trump's motivations, as well as the future of transatlantic relations.
Talking about the new U.S. administration, former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin said Europe's compromises in the face of all sorts of deals with the United States would not bring itself any benefit.
Speaking to French media on the day of Trump's inauguration, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the world has re-entered an era of "might makes right" and Europe needs to be tough and seize all the attributes of its power to defend its interests.
CALL FOR SELF-AWAKENING
It's high time that Europe stood up for itself, shook off its fear and engaged in some intensive self-awakening, experts said, adding that the remedy to Europe's fear is to reclaim its capacity of making its own decisions while acting independently.
As Macron said in his New Year speech to the French army, "Let's therefore make this need for autonomy an opportunity for a European strategic awakening."
Last week, Macron and visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed the need for a stronger and more united Europe to address emerging global challenges.
"It's up to the Europeans, and to our two countries, to consolidate a united, strong and sovereign Europe," Macron said during a joint press conference following their meeting.■