Will a Biden presidency be good news for Europe?
American-European relations may be subject to considerable change when President-elect Joe Biden takes over later this month.
A researcher at the London-based
Chattam House described Donald Trump's presidency as a stormy one for Europe.
Europe, he said, would
have waited for an additional four years during which it would have stormy
relations with the US if Trump was reelected.
Decisions taken by
Trump during his presidency strained relations with Europe. In this, the
outgoing president bucked a general trend followed by his predecessors who were
keen on strengthening relations with the continent.
Trump pulled out of the
Paris agreement on climate and the nuclear deal with Iran. He imposed customs
on aluminum and steel imports from Europe. He also worked to undermine the
World Trade Organization.
The outgoing president
also criticized Germany several times.
According to a survey
by American think tank Pew Research Center, the popularity of the US among
Europeans has been dropping noticeably.
Only 26% of respondents
in Germany said they still viewed the US positively, Pew said.
Renowned Egyptian
writer Ahmed al-Meslemani said news of Trump's election defeat made Europe sigh
in relief.
The Europeans, he said,
felt in danger during Trump's rule.
He noted that Trump
conspired to dissolve the European Union and extort money from the Europeans in
return for maintaining American presence within NATO.
The Europeans were
certain that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan worked for the sake of
Trump in his cold war with Europe, Meslemani said.
He added that the
Europeans also were confident that Erdogan's continual threats to Europe would
never have happened without support from Trump.
