Half of Europeans See Trump as Enemy of Europe, Survey Finds

THE GUARDIAN: Nine-country poll finds half of people believe risk of war with Russia is high and three-quarters want to stay in EU

Nearly half of Europeans see Donald Trump as “an enemy of Europe”, rather more rate the risk of war with Russia as high and more than two-thirds believe their country would not be able to defend itself in the event of such a war, a survey has found.

The nine-country poll for the Paris-based European affairs debate platform Le Grand Continent also found that nearly three-quarters of respondents wanted their country to stay in the EU, with almost as many saying leaving the union had harmed the UK.

Jean-Yves Dormagen, a political science professor and founder of the polling agency Cluster17, said: “Europe is not only facing growing risks, it is also undergoing a transformation of its historical, geopolitical and political environment. The overall picture [of the survey] portrays a Europe that is anxious, that is deeply aware of its vulnerabilities and that is struggling to project itself positively into the future.”

The polling found that an average of 48% of people across the nine countries see Trump as an outright foe – ranging from highs of 62% in Belgium and 57% in France to lows of 37% in Croatia and 19% in Poland. » | Jon Henley, Europe correspondent | Thursday, December 4, 2025

Enemy of Europe? That’s EXACTLY what Trump is! The sooner he is kicked out of office, the better! The better it will be for Europe, the better it will be for America, and the better it will be for the world. — © Mark Alexander

Putin Accuses Europe of Blocking US Efforts to End War in Ukraine

THE GUARDIAN: Russian president says European demands ‘not acceptable’ as key talks begin in Moscow with Witkoff and Kushner

Vladimir Putin has accused Europe of standing in the way of US efforts to end the war in Ukraine, as he began key talks in the Kremlin with Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, and the US president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Witkoff, on his sixth trip to Moscow this year, is to present Putin with an updated version of a US peace proposal drafted with input from a senior Russian official and reworked to make it more acceptable to Kyiv.

The two Trump allies arrived in Moscow on Tuesday after meeting Ukrainian officials at the weekend in Florida to discuss revisions to the original 28-point peace plan, which overwhelmingly favoured Moscow.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on a diplomatic push to rally support among European capitals that have backed changes to the original plan, said in Paris that the updated version of the proposal “looks better” but emphasised it was “not over yet”.

Moments before the closed-door meeting with Witkoff and Kushner, Putin made a series of hard-edged remarks. Speaking to reporters at the Kremlin, he accused European governments of sabotaging the peace process and said that “European demands” on ending the war in Ukraine were “not acceptable to Russia”.

“Europe is preventing the US administration from achieving peace on Ukraine,” Putin said, adding: “Russia does not intend to fight Europe, but if Europe starts, we are ready right now.” » | Pjotr Sauer | Tuesday, December 2, 2025

'Washington Sees Europe as Inconsequential,' Former US Commanding General in Europe Tells Euronews

Dec 1, 2025 | 'Washington sees Europe as inconsequential,' former US commanding general in Europe tells Euronews.

In an interview with Euronews’ flagship morning show Europe Today, former commanding general of US Army Europe General Ben Hodges warned that the continent is “slowly waking to the realisation” that it cannot count on the US as a fair partner.

Are the Kids Alt Right? | ARTE Europe Weekly

Nov 21, 2025 | They were dubbed Generation Greta – now they’re sharing memes about the Spanish dictator Franco and calling for ‘remigration’. Far-right parties are surging in popularity from Romania to Spain, buoyed by Gen Z votes. On top of that, an ideological gender gap is forming, with young men more likely to vote far right than women. What’s the far right’s appeal? And is this change really as big as it seems?

Swiss Gold and Rolex Gifts to Trump Arouse ‘Disgust’ in Europe

THE GUARDIAN: Billionaires gave desk clock and engraved gold bar weeks before Trump slashed tariffs on imports from Switzerland

A gold Rolex desk clock and a $130,000 engraved gold bar given to Donald Trump by a group of Swiss billionaires have raised questions in Europe and the US about the personalisation of US presidential power.

Pasquale Tridico, an Italian MEP and the former head of the country’s national institute for social security said he was “disgusted” by the golden charm offensive, made weeks before Trump decided to slash 39% tariffs on Swiss imports to 15%.

“This is really awful,” he said, claiming that it seemed to be a case of “making foreign policy the policy of individuals”.

Lisa Mazzone, the president of the Green party in Switzerland said the gifts appeared to show Trump’s “corrupt logic had poisoned the Swiss elite”.

“It is unacceptable that the federal council is relying on the help of an economic elite that represents private interests and lacks democratic legitimacy in its negotiations with the US president,” she added. » | Lisa O’Carroll in Brussels | Friday, November 21, 2025

Harold Macmillan on the Decline of British Power (1982)

The late Harold Macmillan explains.

Burqa Ban Battle in Europe: Where and Why? | Why Italy is Banning Burqa | WION WIDEANGLE

Oct 16, 2025 | From Italy to France to Switzerland, countries across Europe are grappling with the issue of the 'Burqa Ban'.

Italy’s ruling party, the ‘Brothers of Italy’, is pushing a bill to ban burqas and niqabs in all public spaces. Under the proposed legislation, violators could face fines ranging from $350 to $3,500.

In April 2011, France became the first European country to implement a ban on full-face veils in public areas.

However, some countries, like Afghanistan, have made wearing a burqa a religious mandate.

France Is Not Alone in Its Crisis of Political Faith – Belief in a Democratic World Is Vanishing

THE GUARDIAN — OPINION: The populist right offers a solution in the form of turning back the clock. Macron and his counterparts need to find a different answer fast

Emmanuel Macron sounded like a man in grief. Not angry, not defiant, just a little triste. Europe, he lamented, was suffering a “degeneration of democracy”. Many threats emanated from outside, from Russia, from China, from powerful US tech companies and social-media entrepreneurs, France’s president said. “But we should not be naive. On the inside we are turning on ourselves. We doubt our own democracy … We see everywhere that something is happening to our democratic fabric. Democratic debate is turning into a debate of hatred.”

Squeezed between vituperative extremes of right and left, Macron knows of what he speaks. But “ungovernable” France is not alone in its bitter, intractable divisions. Across Europe, in the UK and the US, distrust and grievance daily deepen political dysfunction and social discord. Macron’s words apply, in fact, to almost any country espousing democratic principles. Belief that democracy is the form of governance best suited to the modern world is dwindling, especially among younger people. Meanwhile, the public space grows coarser and more violent. Macron was speaking at an event marking the 35th anniversary of Germany’s 1990 reunification, a moment of great optimism. Yet, like France, today’s polarised Germany faces an acute crisis of political faith. » | Simon Tisdall | Sunday, October 12, 2025

Europe Needs to ‘Get Serious’ about Threat Posed to It by Russia, Ukraine Minister Says

THE GUARDIAN: Sergiy Kyslytsya says Kremlin already at war with Europe and predicts that Vladimir Putin will ‘escalate escalating’

Europe needs to “get serious” about the existential threat posed to it by Russia, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister has said, warning that Vladimir Putin will “escalate escalating”.

In an interview with the Guardian, Sergiy Kyslytsya – Kyiv’s former ambassador to the UN – said the Kremlin was already at war with Europe. He said Russia’s recent drone incursions against several EU countries were well-calculated and an attempt to “move the red lines”.

“I’m sure Putin gets emotional if not physical satisfaction humiliating the west by showing what he perceives as his super-strength,” Kyslytsya said, adding that the Russian president’s reckless actions risked antagonising a White House that appeared to be cooling on him. “It’s a boomerang thing,” Kyslytsya said.

What Russia does next depends on whether Europe and the Trump administration show collective resolve, he suggested. Without a decisive transatlantic response, Putin would “escalate escalating”, he predicted, with more actions designed to disrupt and paralyse the continent. » | Luke Harding in Kyiv | Saturday, October 4, 2025

Europe 'In Most Difficult and Dangerous Situation since Second World War,' Danish PM Warns

Read about it here.

Putin's Recklessness Is Driving Europe to the Brink of ‘War' | Mark Galeotti

Sep 29, 2025 | “The more reckless the Russians are, the greater there is the chance for some kind of miscalculation that spirals upwards.”

Putin’s actions provide a firm reality check on the risk of “conflict escalation” in Europe, as the UK and other European nations may “already be at war with Russia”, says author and Russian Analyst Mark Galeotti.

Trump and Putin Are Carrying Out a Pincer Movement on Europe’s Democracies. Suddenly, It All Feels a Bit 1939

THE GUARDIAN — OPINION: Forget the US president’s seeming volte-face on Ukraine this week: he and Putin fundamentally agree that European liberal democracy is the problem

For many people in eastern Europe, August 1939 may not feel that long ago. That was the moment Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union secretly agreed to partition Poland and forcibly subsume the sovereign Baltic republics and Finland into their totalitarian “spheres of influence”. The world knows what came next.

Now the question arises: is it happening again? This time around, it’s Donald Trump’s United States and Vladimir Putin’s Russia making the big geopolitical power-play – and, once again, all of Europe is potential prey. Notwithstanding last week’s sparring over Ukraine, the two leaders’ core aims appear closely aligned.

Physical subjugation of the European continent is not a Trump objective (unlike, perhaps, in Venezuela, Canada or Greenland). But US efforts to dominate the continent through political interference, ideological subversion, economic blackmail, unregulated big-tech predation and the projection of conservative, Christian nationalist cultural beliefs amount to much the same thing.

Putin’s methods are cruder, yet his agenda mirrors Trump’s. He will not let go of Ukraine. He is intensifying, and leveraging, the Russian military threat, from the Baltic states to the Black Sea, including in Moldova, Romania and Georgia. Russian hybrid warfare – sabotage, cyber-attacks, online trolling and disinformation – is now a fact of daily western European life. » | Simon Tisdall | Sunday, September 28, 2025

Some Europeans Fear Trump Aides Want a Far-Right Takeover: The continent’s leaders have concerns that U.S. officials are pushing for parties that support their views of nationalism and traditional values to come into power. »

Putin Preparing to Attack Another European Country, Zelenskyy Says

THE GUARDIAN: Ukraine’s president says Kremlin checking Europe’s capacity to protect its skies following new drone sightings

Vladimir Putin will expand his war in Ukraine by attacking another European country, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has predicted, and accused Russia of recent drone incursions that he said were an attempt to test Nato’s defences.

Speaking in Kyiv after his meeting with Donald Trump at the UN in New York, the Ukrainian president said Russia was preparing for a bigger conflict. “Putin will not wait to finish his war in Ukraine. He will open up some other direction. Nobody knows where. He wants that,” he said.

Ukraine’s president said the Kremlin was deliberately checking Europe’s capacity to protect its skies, after drone sightings in Denmark, Poland and Romania and the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets. More drones were spotted on Friday night above a Danish military base, and over a Norwegian base on Saturday. » | Luke Harding in Kyiv | Saturday, September 27, 2025

Post-Brexit UK Must Choose: America or Europe?

Sep 19, 2025 | Brendan Donnelly and John Stevens discuss the choice post-Brexit Britain must make between Europe and America. They predict that the UK will opt for Europe in the medium to long term, despite the short term attractions of the “special relationship.

SPEAKERS:
John Stevens is the Chairman of the Federal Trust and a former Conservative MEP.
Brendan Donnelly is the former Director of the Federal Trust and a former Conservative MEP.

ABOUT THE FEDERAL TRUST:
The Federal Trust is a research institute studying regional, national, European and global levels of government. It has always had a particular interest in the European Union and Britain’s place in it. The Federal Trust has no allegiance to any political party. It is registered as a charity for the purposes of education and research.


THE FEDERAL TRUST can be supported on Patreon here.

Trump Can’t Be Relied Upon to Defend Europe | Ex-NATO Policy Chief

Sep 10, 2025 | “We’re still handing the cards of European security in two men’s hands: Putin and Trump.”

Europe needs to stop “waiting” for Trump to support Nato and get ready to defend itself alone, says former NATO policy planning chief Fabrice Pothier.


IMHO, Trump is totally out of his depth. When it comes to geopolitics, the man is clueless. Add to that his self-centredness, and this is what you get. The man is dangerous not only for Europe, but also for the world. — © Mark Alexander

7 of Europe’s Most Delectable Fall Harvest Festivals

THE NEW YORK TIMES: A pistachio exhibition. A herring market. The happy blend of wine and hiking. This list proves that foodies, too, can celebrate Autumnal travel.

Foodies take note: Thinner crowds and richly colored foliage aren’t the only benefits of shoulder season on the continent.

Here’s an assortment of European culinary events to whet your autumnal appetite, including celebrations of truffles in Istria and pistachios on a lesser-known Greek island. » | A.J. Goldmann | Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Brit in Germany: What Americans Don’t Understand about Europe

Sep 7, 2025

‘Most of This Is Symbolic’: The New Wave of Anti-migrant Vigilantes in Europe

THE GUARDIAN: ‘Citizen patrols’ and self-styled protective forces are fuelling social fears and the far right, say experts

Sporting black shirts emblazoned with an iron cross, a dozen or so men marched through the centre of Reykjavík, courting attention on a buzzy Friday night. In Poland and the Netherlands, vigilantes thronged along the German border, ready to turn back any asylum seekers they came across. In Belfast, they roamed after sunset, demanding to see the identity documents of migrants and people of colour.

Each of the groups, who are part of a renewed wave of anti-migrant vigilantes that have sprung up in recent months across Europe, have sought to cast themselves as a sort of protective force. But those who have studied vigilantes warn that their actions often exacerbate security concerns, sow fear and fuel the far right.

“Most of this is symbolic. They don’t stop migration. They don’t create more safety in the streets,” said Tore Bjørgo, a professor at the University of Oslo and former director of the university’s Centre for Research on Extremism. “It’s a show for media and often for political purposes because, quite often, the extreme-right and far-right organisations use this as a way to get publicity and recruit new members.” » | Ashifa Kassam, European community affairs correspondent | Saturday, August 30, 2025

Tesla Sales in Europe Slump 40% as BYD New Car Registrations More Than Triple

THE GUARDIAN: Electric car business run by Elon Musk continues to lose ground to Chinese rival despite recent revamp of Model Y

Tesla sales slumped 40% across Europe in July compared with a year earlier as Elon Musk’s electric car company faces increasingly tough competition from its Chinese rival BYD.

There were 8,837 sales of Tesla cars last month across the EU, the European Free Trade Association and the UK, according to figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). That compared with 14,769 at the same point last year.

New car registrations for BYD across Europe rose to 13,503 last month, compared with 4,151 a year earlier. BYD now has 1.2% market share, the ACEA found. Tesla’s share remains at 0.8%.

Chinese car brands, which often have relatively cheaper models, have been expanding aggressively in Europe. BYD outsold Tesla in Europe for the first time this spring, according to a report from the market research company JATO Dynamics. » | Lauren Almeida | Thursday, April 28, 2025

How Europe Learned to Speak So Trump Would Listen

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The leaders of Germany, France, Britain and other supporters of Ukraine have come together in exceptional ways to help sway the U.S. president.

By midday Saturday in Europe, a question was bouncing between the government offices and vacation villas of the continent’s most influential leaders. The Ukrainian president was headed to the White House for a crucial meeting with President Trump. Mr. Trump was allowing him to bring backup. But who should go?

It was the sort of dilemma that once might have erupted into public disputes between Germany, France and Britain, the continent’s largest powers. This time, it didn’t.

The leaders of those countries decided they would all accompany Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, to Washington, for a summit with Mr. Trump about peace talks with Russia. So would the leaders of Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO.

They flew in on separate planes. But with Mr. Trump, they spoke in one voice.

“We were well prepared and well coordinated,” Friedrich Merz, the chancellor of Germany, told reporters after he and his counterparts met Mr. Trump at the White House. “We also represented the same viewpoints. I think that really pleased the American president.”

Mr. Trump’s persistent and sometimes volatile effort to bring a diplomatic end to the war between Ukraine and Russia has forged stronger bonds among European leaders. It has strengthened the unity that emerged earlier this year amid Mr. Trump’s tariff threats and his wavering on what have been decades-long security guarantees that America has provided to Europe. » | Jim Tankersley | Reporting from Berlin | Tuesday, August 19, 2025

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