‘Free world needs a new leader’, says EU foreign chief after Trump Zelenskyy row
‘Free world needs a new leader’, says EU foreign chief after Trump Zelenskyy row
The EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said ‘the free world needs a new leader’ and that it was up to Europeans to take this challenge
The EU foreign policy chief has declared that “the free world needs a new leader”, as European leaders threw their support behind Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after the stunning White House confrontation between him and Donald Trump.
Leaders from across Europe expressed their solidarity with the Ukrainian leader after the fractious exchange with JD Vance, the US vice-president, and Trump, who claimed he was not “ready for peace” and accused him of “gambling with world war three”.
Although in general the European leaders did not name the US president, their comments late on Friday laid bare the gaping rift between the US and its traditional allies in Europe over the war in Ukraine.
In a social media post Kaja Kallas, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, wrote: “Ukraine is Europe! We stand by Ukraine. We will step up our support to Ukraine so that they can continue to fight back the aggressor.
“Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge.”
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Angela Merkel basically took over last time Trump was around.
This Canuck really liked Merkel, but that's just my opinion. Germans didn't seem to approve of her much.
Let's just say it's complicated.
She's a conservative and domestically that meant a focus on the status quo, infrastructure was neglected (digital and otherwise), a lot of privatization, stagnating social programs, stagnating wages and more.
Her foreign policy and her statesmanship on the other hand was widely respected.
That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. 👍
Her foreign policy and her statesmanship on the other hand was widely respected.
FWIW, in Ukraine (and many other parts of Europe), her foreign policy w.r.t russia is seen as de-facto enabling russian genocidal imperialism (as a conscious and pre-mediated decision). She nurtured and enabled putin every step of the way.
I am of course not speaking for German public, since I've never lived in Germany.
The other reply you already got pretty much sums up how I feel about Merkel, not a fan exactly. But I'd like to add one specific thing she has my respect for.
During the refugee crisis of 2015 there was a point where her side of the political aisle was approaching hysteria. There were hundreds of thousands of people streaming into the EU from all over the middle east and north Africa, crowds at every major train station and border crossing, normal refugee infrastructure way beyond the point of collapse. So conservatives were starting to seriously argue for the suspension of asylum rights, closing borders, etc. And Merkel was usually one to wait stuff like this out, see what possible consensus forms and then adopt it as if it was her idea all along. But not this time. She saw it starting to gain traction, just came out publicly and said "We will manage this", and that was that for her. Discussion died immediately.
I may not respect much of what she did before or after, but taking that stance at that moment as clearly as she did, that I respect her for.