Europeans think US is 'necessary partner' not 'ally', study finds

euronews (in English)

A study by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) shows that Europeans no longer see the US as an 'ally', and revealed a broad variety of opinions on the future of the EU.

Transcript

00:00because of the damage to the United States of making America...

00:04The transatlantic twilight.

00:06This is the expression used by the think tank ECFR,

00:10or European Council on Foreign Relations,

00:13following its survey on relations between the European Union

00:17and President Donald Trump's United States.

00:20According to the study published today

00:22and carried out in 11 member countries,

00:2550% of those questions believe

00:28that the United States is a necessary partner,

00:31compared with 21% who see Washington as an ally.

00:35These figures mark a shift in European opinion.

00:39The main lesson is that citizens are already accepting

00:45and acknowledging the fact that Europeans

00:49and European leaders need to adopt a more pragmatic approach towards America.

00:54So in that polling, people do not show too strong illusions about the US.

01:02They kind of accept that if Trump wants a transactional,

01:06then we need to be open to a transaction as well.

01:10Faced with Donald Trump's America First slogan,

01:13the report's author suggests that the Union should prepare to defend its interests

01:18and turn the page on the historic transatlantic link.

01:22So we call it a transatlantic twilight

01:28because we believe that the old transatlanticism is over

01:32and the new one is supposed to be born.

01:36It can be born based on the action of the European mainstream

01:41who could adopt a more transactional and pragmatic approach.

01:46In such a scenario,

01:48yes, the transatlantic relationship would be based less on the values

01:54than it was the case in the past.

01:59The poll highlights the divergent perceptions of the new American president in member states.

02:06The Republican has a positive image in Hungary and Bulgaria,

02:10while Denmark and Germany are much more skeptical.

02:13This is why the authors of the study call on EU leaders not to act in isolation

02:19to try to establish a privileged relationship with Donald Trump

02:23at the expense of their European partners.

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