"On Wednesday Brussels is due to outline the terms of the 90bn loan it has promised to Ukraine, amid internal tensions over whether Kyiv can use the money to buy US as well as EU weapons. On the same day, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is due to meet ministers from Denmark and Greenland, as Donald Trump continues to insist that the US will take ownership of the latter one way or another."
"the EU is under mounting pressure to do more than merely monitor the situation, as the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, somewhat feebly put it over the weekend. Beyond the crisis management, a deeper reckoning is overdue after a tumultuous beginning to 2026. It has long been a truism that there is a profound mismatch between the EU's economic heft and its geopolitical clout. But only a year into Mr Trump's second term, the disjunction looks unsustainable in the America first era."
Brussels faces immediate dilemmas including the terms of a 90bn loan to Ukraine and disputes over whether Kyiv may buy US as well as EU weapons. The US push on Greenland and Donald Trump’s assertive diplomacy create transatlantic tensions. Rising protester deaths in Iran increase pressure on the EU to act beyond monitoring. The EU’s economic weight contrasts with limited geopolitical clout, and leaders have largely followed US policy to preserve the alliance. Structural problems like veto-driven decision-making in a 27-member union hinder decisive action, and a shift in political mindset is required for stronger global projection.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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