JIM WATSON/AFP
Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during their meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 21, 2020.
INTERNATIONAL – No time to wait. While Donald Trump will not be officially inaugurated as President of the United States until January 20, 2025, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has already proposed that the United States provide more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the EU to continue to get rid of Russian gas needs.
Given that the 47th American president threatened to tax imports of European products in order to put an end to the European Union’s trade surpluses vis-à-vis the United States, Ursula von der Leyen slipped this idea into his ear , as she indicated this Friday, November 8 during a press conference following a European summit in Budapest.
“First of all, I think it is very important to talk to each other, then (we must) discuss our common interests and then start negotiations”she said when asked how she planned to manage the business relationship with Donald Trump. The President of the European Commission spoke by telephone on Thursday with the future tenant of the White House.
“The common interests are, for example – and this is a subject that we addressed yesterday, without really discussing it in depth – everything relating to LNG. We still get a lot of LNG from Russia so why not replace it with American LNG which is cheaper for us and lowers our energy prices? »she asked herself on this occasion.
outstretched hand
The subject could be discussed “related to the trade deficit” denounced by the American billionaire throughout his electoral campaign, she underlined. Knowing that the European Union has already considerably increased its purchases of American LNG in recent years. A direct energy consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, the EU has not completely succeeded in cutting the energy link with Moscow.
While Emmanuel Macron questioned the Europeans about the military independence of the EU with the return of Donald Trump, the energy question seems to pose much fewer problems. Asked how to react to Donald Trump’s threats, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also insisted on the fact that it was possible to find areas of compromise with Washington.
“Ultimately, America’s growth and strength also comes from trading with the world in both directions.”he stressed. “From this point of view, I think that the bases are there for us to develop a common policy”.
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