EURONEWS - The Briefing - The end of the West - by Jorge Lboreiro - 17 April 2025

 

The end of the West?

By Jorge Liboreiro That the Western alliance of established democracies is going through a turbulent period in history is something we were, by now, keenly aware of. In less than three months, Donald Trump has managed to single-handedly bulldoze every tenet that has underpinned the mighty coalition, from the staunch defence of open free markets to the principles of territorial integrity and national sovereignty. Case in point: this week, the G7 couldn’t agree on a joint statement denouncing Russia’s devastating attack against the Ukrainian city of Sumy after the US blocked the proposed language. Another case in point: Trump, speaking from the White House, once again blamed Ukraine for starting (sic) the war. Every day, it seems, there’s a new indication that the Western alliance is being hollowed out from the inside, debased into a sad caricature of what it once was. Instead of drowning in despair and nostalgia, Ursula von der Leyen suggests it might be better to just let it go. “The West as we knew it no longer exists,” she declared, point blank, in a (surprisingly) long interview with the German newspaper Zeit. It is a remarkable admission from a politician who, in the same interview, describes herself as a “great friend” of America and a “convinced Atlanticist,” but who, a few lines later, refuses to say whether the US is a friend, a former friend or an opponent.  “The world has become a globe also geopolitically, and today our networks of friendship span the globe,” she explains, boasting about the many phone calls she’s recently had with other world leaders in reaction to Trump’s go-for-broke policies. The directory of conversations combines members of the (former?) Western alliance, such as Canada, Norway and New Zealand, with representatives from countries with distinctly different values, like the United Arab Emirates and China. Her exchange with Chinese Premier Li Qian was particularly eye-catching, given that von der Leyen, as you might remember, was the most vocal proponent of the “de-risking” strategy to deal with the Asian giant. The phone call immediately fuelled speculation of an imminent rapprochement between Brussels and Beijing, despite the formidable obstacles that stand in the way. It would be premature to conclude this diplomatic outreach is a prelude to the emergence of a new West, or rather, a post-West order. The conversations are primarily driven by sheer pragmatism to cope with the chaos unleashed by the Trump administration. Think of it as a temporary truce for the sake of survival. After all, every government, be it democratic or autocratic, seeks to ensure steady growth and prosperity. Trump’s tariffs threaten to bring long-lasting, and perfectly avoidable, economic pain upon all corners of the globe. Faced with an unnecessary recession, leaders are more prone to call each other up and say: “Let’s bury the hatchet and focus on the machete.”  But the economy isn’t the only driver behind the swift realignment. Leaders are making new accords based on many other considerations, from personal affection (“We like each other”) to ideological affinity (“We dislike the same things”).  Take Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, who has most gladly accepted an invitation to attend the military parade that Moscow will host on 9 May. By contrast, Friedrich Merz, who will soon become Germany’s new chancellor, is reportedly planning to spend the same day in another capital: Kyiv. In visual terms, this means that as Fico stands next to Putin celebrating Victory Day, Merz will be alongside Volodymyr Zelenskyy honouring Europe Day.  That split screen alone will be reason enough to validate von der Leyen’s remark that the West, as we once knew it, as we grew used to relying on it, taking it for granted, believing it was eternal and unbreakable, might no longer exist. Why this ad? WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON? TARIFF RESPITE One week after the “reciprocal pause” on tariffs, negotiations between the EU and the US have gone into the technical level with the hopes of patching up differences and reaching a compromise before the 90-day window closes. Brussels has again offered a “zero-for-zero” tariff deal on industrial goods and made it clear that valued-added tax (VAT), food safety standards and Big Tech probes won’t be up for grabs. Peggy Corlin has the latest on the tough talks. TOTAL COLLAPSE As Europe tries to enjoy the respite, the US and China are in an all-out trade war against each other. The tariffs are so prohibitively high that trade in goods between the two countries is expected to plunge 81% this year, and as much as 91% without any exemption. At the same time, Chinese exports to the EU will rise 6%, the WTO says. The Trump tariffs have forced Temu and Shein, two popular low-cost sites, to warn consumers of an impending hike in prices.  WAIT AND SEE How the Trump tariffs sway inflation in the eurozone will only be known “over the course of time,” European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said as she announced cuts in interest rates. “Tariffs represent a negative demand shock.” In Washington, the Federal Reserve sounds much more worried. Speaking of the ECB, our team has detected viral posts claiming the institution plans to ban the use of American credit cards, like Visa and Mastercard. We fact-check. THE SOUND OF FURY The backlash against Hungary’s Pride ban is growing louder: a large group of countries, including Germany and France, have backed a statement denouncing the legislation as an attack against human rights and the freedoms of expression and assembly. It comes just days after the Hungarian parliament codified the ban into the constitution. Meanwhile, the European Commission said it would launch legal action “if necessary” but only after completing an internal analysis.  CHOOSE SEVEN The Commission has proposed the first-ever EU-wide list of safe countries of origin, featuring Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco and Tunisia. If approved, asylum seekers from these countries will be automatically directed to an accelerated border procedure. The list is not without controversy: some of the designated countries have a long track record of human rights abuses. Vincenzo Genovese breaks down what the proposal actually means. AT THE MERCY OF OTHERS The cause of international justice is going through a precarious time. The arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes have been ignored by several countries in recent months, exposing the limitations that the tribunal faces in practice. Estelle Nilsson-Julien looks deeper into the ICC’s remit of power. MARK TAKES THE STAND Meta is on trial in the US in a legal battle that could see the social media giant being forced to sell off two of its most popular platforms, Instagram and WhatsApp. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) argues the acquisitions broke competition rules and quashed market rivals, an accusation that CEO Mark Zuckerberg vigorously denied when he took to the stand. Pascale Davis explains how the high-stakes case could completely reshape the online world. Why this ad? IT'S IN THE NUMBERS Toys and other Chinese products made up the largest part of 4,127 instances of dangerous non-food products alerted to the EU’s Safety Gate market tracker last year – the highest number of alerts since the rapid alert system was put in place in 2003. Cosmetics, at over a third of the total, remained the most frequently reported product class. A striking 97% of them contained the synthetic perfume butylphenyl methylpropional, known by the trade name Lilial, named for its floral fragrance. EDITOR’S CHOICE The multi-million euro industry selling ‘conservative’ clothes What you see as modest depends on who you are, the norms you grew up with and the ones you eventually decide to stick with. As for the term “modest fashion,” it began to emerge in 2010 and went mainstream from 2015 onwards. Fast-forward a decade, and Modest Fashion Weeks are cropping up around the globe, while a blossoming influencer scene burgeons in the background. Models wearing veils, headscarves and knee-length skirts can now be seen strutting down the catwalk. At its core, “modest fashion” is about dressing stylishly in clothes that are not too revealing. For critics, the term is problematic: some don’t like the word itself, while others refuse to accept the idea that women should abide by a certain dress code. Amid the debate, the industry is making millions. A livestream capturing the migration of the Swedish moose across the Ångerman River has become an online sensation.