French President Francois Hollande delivers a speech as he attends the opening of the brand new Sud Europe Atlantique (South Europe Atlantic) high-speed rail line connecting Excursions and Bordeaux on February 28, 2017 in Villonon, central France.
Johann Bonnet | AFP | Getty Pictures
Former French President Francois Hollande harassed the significance of Europe standing collectively within the face of US protectionism on points resembling safety and commerce.
President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory final week fueled fears of an impending economic nightmare for the European Union after threatening to impose an extra 10% tariff on these nations.
It can come at a time when conventional financial powerhouse Germany is coping with financial malaise and a political vacuum after the coalition government collapsed. There are additionally considerations concerning the warfare in Ukraine and whether or not the US may withdraw funding to the war-torn nation – leaving European allies to foot the invoice.
Hollande instructed CNBC’s Charlotte Reid on Wednesday that Europe needs to be apprehensive.
“Europe as we speak is a continent that’s not united. So what will probably be completely important is the response to what Trump needs to do, notably the separation of the US from the European continent,” he mentioned.
“This will probably be accomplished by France, Germany, Poland and the UK, the 4 principal protection investing nations. If these 4 nations react collectively, each on the safety subject, on the Ukraine subject and even on the commerce subject, then Europe will probably be revered, in any other case it will likely be pushed out,” he added.
Though Germany and France have seen important political instability this yr, Hollande mentioned there may nonetheless be a “broad political consensus” in these main European nations, regardless of who’s in cost, who may “strongly oppose what Donald Trump can take.”
Ukraine peace?
Hollande, France’s former socialist chief, led the nation between 2012 and 2017 and briefly interrupted Trump’s first time period. He recalled that Trump was usually a person of his phrase.
Trump had earlier boasted that he may “finish the warfare” in Ukraine in 24 hours if elected, signaling he would freeze funding to power the nation to succeed in a negotiated settlement with Russia. Analysts say Ukraine could then be pushed into ‘bad peace’ with its highly effective neighbor and probably pressured to surrender virtually 20% of its territory to the south and east at present occupied by Russian forces.
Hollande predicted Trump would attempt to supply peace with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who would exclude Ukraine from the talks, probably permitting Russia to take territory it already occupies.
“Will we enable it to occur? We should not enable it,” Hollande mentioned. “As a result of it could set a particularly critical precedent the place power has prevailed over legislation.”
— CNBC’s Sylvia Amaro and Holly Elliott contributed to this text.
