EU Chief Warns Leaders Bloc Will Lose Way by Following Trump

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(Bloomberg) — European Council President Antonio Costa warned EU leaders that the bloc will be lost if it outsources key decisions to US President Donald Trump.  

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Costa told European Union leaders that they can’t shy away from addressing the fact that US interests no longer align with the EU’s, according to people familiar with the Thursday evening discussion in Cyprus. 

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Costa cited a US operation to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the US-Israel war in Iran and Trump’s position on Ukraine as examples of where Washington diverges from the EU, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. 

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The EU needs to organize itself, Costa told them, and develop an autonomous approach to defending its interests, according to the people.

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A spokesperson from Costa’s office didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. 

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Transatlantic relations have suffered since Trump came to office, with Washington starting a trade war with the bloc, threatening to annex Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of EU member Denmark, and toying with the idea of stepping back from NATO’s security guarantees.

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The Trump administration has bristled at Europe’s brand of liberal democracy. In its recent national security strategy, the US said it would cultivate “resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations,” widely interpreted as a tacit offer of support for Europe’s far-right parties. 

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Trump’s ideological national security document accused European leaders of censorship and said the EU faced “civilizational erasure” due to mass migration and economic decline.

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EU leaders were meeting in Cyprus for a summit mostly dominated by Trump’s war against Iran and its energy fallout due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Costa emphasized to the leaders the importance of reopening the waterway, the people said. 

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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU leaders separately at the same summit that if Hormuz doesn’t open soon, rising energy prices will lead to lasting effects on the region’s economic growth and inflation, according to the people.

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A spokesperson from the commission didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. 

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While the EU has limited reliance on energy supplies from the Middle East, its overall dependence on fossil fuel imports makes it susceptible to price shocks.

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Countries differ over how to address the fallout from the Iran war, but they agree that the situation is only set to get worse, said the people. Some of the leaders expect it to be the biggest energy crisis that the region has ever endured.

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The US-Israeli war on Iran triggered the most serious oil supply disruption in history as the closure of Hormuz blocked shipments from top producers in the Persian Gulf, pushing up Brent prices 48% since the start of the conflict. Gas shipments have also been affected, with European benchmark contracts rising 42%.

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—With assistance from Chris Miller.

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(Updates with European Commission intervention from the 10th paragraph.)

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