The Brief – Message from the three Italian tenors

The United States is such an important country: whatever decision they make affects us so much that it is almost as if the entire world should have the right to vote in American elections. It was with these provocative words that I began an opinion piece written exactly twenty years ago.

It was 2004 and the US presidential elections were approaching. George W. Bush was in danger of being re-elected, and I considered him to be a very bad president of the United States, who had caused a lot of damage throughout the world.

Unfortunately, “Dubya” was re-elected and the only good thing that followed was that, despite his unpopularity, the Democrats became stronger, regained control of Congress in 2006 and paved the way for the election of Barack Obama in 2009.

This time, I don’t see Joe Biden as a bad president. His worst mistake, in my opinion, was the catastrophic way he handled the situation. The United States withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021. I agree with analysts who believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin interpreted this withdrawal as a carte blanche invade Ukraine.

We try to imagine how Putin thinks.

I am convinced that Putin saw the withdrawal from Afghanistan as a confirmation of the Kremlin’s analysis which concluded that under Joe Biden, the United States is no longer the world’s policeman and that it will lose all interest in Europe and will focus only on the Chinese challenge.

Of course, I am not claiming that Biden is responsible for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The only one responsible is Putin. And Putin actually made a serious mistake in assuming that the United States and the West as a whole would respond to the invasion as mildly as they did to the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Today, the major problem is Donald Trump. For all his flaws, he still has a competitive advantage over Biden, who seems increasingly fragile and distracted.

It is likely that four more years of Trump will completely upend world affairs, largely to Putin’s benefit and to Ukraine’s detriment.

Trump calls Biden “Sleepy Joe.” Isn’t it political suicide that Biden himself admitted that he almost asleep during the debate?

Under Trump, transatlantic relations are likely to change completely and EU unity will be shattered, as several EU countries would align with Trump, elect Trump-like leaders or strengthen the positions of leaders who imitate Trump.

It is important to see Three former center-left Italian prime ministers call on Biden to step down before the elections.

In separate statements, Matteo Renzi, Enrico Letta and Romano Prodi, who was also Commission president from 1999 to 2004, said Biden should hand over to someone younger to avoid “unpredictable” consequences.

Democracies do not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, at least not in public. Elections are sacrosanct internal affairs.

But again, we come back to the idea that the United States is such an important country that we cannot pretend that we should just sit back and wait for the outcome of the November 5th election.

The three Italian tenors who made their voices heard come from the opposition. They represent the political spectrum considered to be partners of the American Democrats. The current Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, would certainly benefit from a boost in the event of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

It should also strengthen Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Robert Fico in Slovakia and Dick Schoof in the Netherlands – who are already in power – but also Marine Le Pen in France, Herbert Kickl in Austria and several others waiting in the wings.

The United States has a distinctly undiplomatic attitude when it comes to displaying its preferences ahead of elections in European countries.

In Bulgaria, the country I know best, the U.S. Embassy has often made its preferences clear. (Although the message has sometimes backfired, I must admit.)

Perhaps it is time for Europe to send a non-diplomatic message to the United States, in agreement with the three Italian tenors.

Roundup

Pressure from Germany to reconsider trade tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars is set to intensify in the coming weeks as member states begin to negotiate their official position on the issue, after the Commission confirmed on Thursday (July 4) that the provisional duties will come into force from Friday.

The EU should avoid “counterproductive” measures when addressing the position of farmers in the supply chain and instead remove barriers to investment, Christel Delberghe, director general of retail association EuroCommerce, told EURACTIV.

The European Commission’s president-designate is under pressure from the European hydrogen industry to block the EU’s upcoming €1.2 billion hydrogen subsidy auction for EU producers.

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz, the frontrunner to become chancellor next year, has said his government would work with a French cabinet led by the far-right National Rally, which could materialise after this week’s French elections, taking encouragement from the RN’s tough stance on Germany’s AfD.

NATO members are increasingly concerned about the risks to the cohesion of the Western military alliance posed by the possible entry of the French far right into government and by the possibility that Paris’ influence and commitment to Ukraine will diminish in the near future.

The Czech Republic is subject to targeted information operations aimed at reducing support for Ukraine, a recent report by the Czech National Centre for Combating Organised Crime (NCOZ) reveals.

To stay up to date on the EU’s political rollercoaster, don’t miss this week’s EU Politics Decoded, the latest from our own Max Griera.

Be careful…

Commissioner Kadri Simson is meeting with Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino in Buenos Aires on Friday.
High Representative Josep Borrell in Larissa, Greece, visits the headquarters of EUNAVFOR’s Operation Aspides on Friday.
Informal meeting of ministers responsible for competitiveness (Internal Market and Industry) Monday-Tuesday.

Opinions are those of the author.

(Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/Alice Taylor)