 "Majority of Europeans view Trump as an 'enemy of Europe', shows survey")
More than half of Europeans consider US President Donald Trump an “enemy of Europe.”
According to a Politico report, citing a survey conducted in the EU’s eight largest countries and Denmark and aimed at taking the temperature of European citizens on transatlantic relations and security issues ahead of the ongoing European Council summit, 51% say Trump — a longtime massive EU skeptic — is an enemy of the continental alliance.
The survey, commissioned by Le Grand Continent and Cluster 17 and conducted among over 10,000 people between March 11 and 14, found that an even greater percentage — 63% —believe Trump’s election has made the world less safe.
Only 13% think Trump “respects democratic principles,” while 43% perceive him as having “authoritarian tendencies,” and 39% even view him as “acting like a dictator”, reported Politico.
According to the report, it’s not just Trump who is viewed negatively: In the countries surveyed, almost 8 out of 10 citizens believe that billionaire presidential adviser Elon Musk cannot be trusted, and almost half of respondents in Belgium, Denmark and France say that Europeans should boycott Tesla’s electric cars.
Fifty-five percent of respondents believe there is a high risk of armed conflict in EU territory in the coming years, with Eastern European countries Romania and Poland expressing the most concern at 74% and 71%, respectively. However, these nations tend to have a higher level of trust in Trump compared to their Western European counterparts.
Only 10% of respondents think the EU can depend on Trump’s America for its security and defense, while 70% assert that the bloc must rely solely on its own resources for protection.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsOpinions are more mixed regarding whether this should be achieved through national armies or a unified European force, but a majority in most countries favor the idea of a common EU military.
With inputs from agencies
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