Europe now alone facing its destiny

Lhe victory of Donald Trump worries Europeans who have understood that this American presidential election will also change their lives. Because this return certainly sounds the death knell of an old era, that of a world order in which Europe could prosper quietly in the shadow of the American umbrella.

The United States will probably let go of Ukraine and who knows maybe even NATO. “We are no longer a priority for the United States,” former European Commissioner Thierry Breton already professed this weekend in the Sunday Tribune. And with this new election of Donald Trump, things are not going to get better: Europe, yesterday the center of the world, runs the risk of becoming a secondary theater, facing a bellicose Russia, a conquering China, and a weary America of us. We will now have to assume responsibility for our own security and reinvent our economic model; the challenge is gigantic.

Inconvenient truths

We are experiencing the autumn of great disturbing truths… In the space of a few weeks, two European reports have come to impact our existential certainties.

First shock, at the beginning of September, the former president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi issued a report in which he drew up the implacable observation of a Europe in “slow economic agony” and in technological decline. In other words, while Silicon Valley innovates, Europe regulates…

ALSO READ Armies: could France know how to defend itself without the United States? Second report, that of former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, who recommends that each European household stock up on water and food reserves to last 72 hours in the event of a major crisis, underlining our total unpreparedness in the face of the security dangers that await us . Cruel truth: Russia now spends more money on its defense than all European countries combined…

Great downgrade

To Discover

Kangaroo of the day

Answer

Solutions exist, notably through greater pooling between member countries and massive investment plans. But these solutions are hampered by a cruel reality: Germany is sinking into recession and France is drowning in deficits. Europe is now alone in facing its destiny, the great downgrading is now.

Find the chronicle of Clément Pétreault every Wednesday on France Inter.