BUDAPEST: European leaders attempted an awkward balancing act on Thursday, stressing their security independence while also highlighting the importance of economic ties with the United States a day after Donald Trump roared to a comeback victory in the US presidential elections.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union must "stay the course" to overcome its challenges and build on its work to act more self sufficiently on security and economics.
European leaders are in Budapest for the fifth meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) as well as an informal summit of EU leaders taking place on Friday.
Originally talks were scheduled to address the economy, migration, recent elections in Georgia, the spiralling conflict in the Middle East, and the full-scale Russian attack on Ukraine.
However, the return of Trump has ripped up this agenda as European leaders, especially in the EU and in countries bordering Russia, struggle to absorb the uncomfortable outcome of the US elections and what it could mean for trans-Atlantic relations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is attending the EPC where he is to push for continued support against the all-out invasion of Russia, now thrown into question by Trump's return to the White House.
Trump has criticised US President Joe Biden for providing military aid to Ukraine and claimed on the campaign trail that he could end the war in one day, provoking worries Ukraine may be pressured to surrender.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the EU should stress how well trans-Atlantic cooperation has worked under US President Joe Biden when supporting Ukraine and do more to advance this relationship.
Kristersson also acknowledged that the EU would have to do more to support Ukraine, predicting that "in the long run" the US will not be primary donor of military support for Ukraine.
The incoming US president has also repeatedly questioned the United States' security commitments to Nato in anger over low defence spending by European allies.
Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said Trump was "absolutely right"that European members of Nato must spend more and that a new debate on defence spending should be expected with his White House return.
In addition, Trump has also called for a US tariff hike on all imports as high as 10 per cent and 20 per cent, arguing that the US is being treated unfairly by the EU and other trading partners.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer noted the deep economic ties between both sides and that the EU should "do everything to strengthen the relationship further with the US." — dpa
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