Europe

Germany leads defiance to Trump car tariffs, saying it ‘will not give in’

Germany has said it “will not give in” and that Europe must “respond firmly” as US President Donald Trump targets imported cars and car parts with a 25% tax in his latest tariffs.

Other major world economies have vowed to retaliate, with France’s president branding the move “a waste of time” and “incoherent”, Canada calling it a “direct attack”, and China accusing Washington of violating international trade rules.

Carmaker stocks from Japan to Germany dipped. In the US, General Motors dropped 7%, while Ford fell more than 2%.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, Europe, USA

Euros for Russia’s next invasion – From Paris to Berlin, actions don’t match the grandiose verbiage.

Europe’s hypocrisy is on full display today.

As leaders meet in Paris to plan the continent’s defence, several European countries are sending wads of cash to the belligerent Kremlin in exchange for convenient oil and gas.

Think-tank Ember has found that the EU put €21.9 billion into Russian coffers in 2024, with gas imports up 18% on the previous year. EU support for Ukraine in 2024 was €18.7 billion.

Hungary and Slovakia, the usual suspects, bear heavy responsibility for the stark figures. But also unable to turn off the Russian gas tap is France – who today hosts 31 European leaders to develop plans to counter the Russian security threat.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia", Europe, European Union

Europe Confronts Reality That Vance’s Hostility Is More Than Just a Show

European leaders had hoped that Vice President JD Vance’s antagonism was a political show to build domestic support. Now, after Vance expressed disdain for Europe in a private text chat about Yemen attack details, officials are coming to terms with a vocal vice president whose antipathy for Europe appears to run deep.

“I just hate bailing Europe out again,” he said regarding planned U.S. strikes against Houthi rebels, in an exchange published by the Atlantic magazine. He told fellow administration officials that the U.S. was “making a mistake” by hitting the Houthis, whose attacks on Red Sea shipping have scrambled global shipping routes.

He noted that only “3 percent of US trade runs through the Suez. 40 percent of European trade does.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth replied to Vance’s comments: “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEurope, European Union, USA

The ‘Signal Scandal’: Trump’s Cabinet Drops Truth Bombs on Europe

The Trump administration’s leaked—if you can call it that—discussions of war plans made headlines across the globe after a staffer working for National Security Adviser Mike Waltz (inadvertently) added a magazine editor to the senior officials’ group chat.

While American media questioned how on earth this major faux pas could occur, European commenters have been scandalized by the brutality of Team Trump’s behind-the-scenes talk regarding Europe.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEurope, European Union, USA

Why the Trump White House hates Europe

Donald Trump’s cabinet inviting a journalist to a group chat to discuss bombing Yemen’s Houthi rebels must have given American security officials a collective heart attack.

But, for European and British officials, the most alarming aspect of the extraordinary affair was the single dissenting voice in the conversation that played out on Signal.

“I think we are making a mistake,” JD Vance, the vice president, texted from an economics event in Michigan as defence secretary Pete Hegseth, national security adviser Mike Waltz and CIA director John Ratcliffe, among others, weighed up striking the Iran-backed Houthis.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEurope, European Union, USA

Trump: America has been ‘raped and pillaged’ by Europe

The United States has been “raped and pillaged” by the EU, Donald Trump has said in a fresh jibe at European allies amid an expanding trade war.

Addressing his plans to reduce the national debt by imposing trade tariffs, the President claimed that America has been taken advantage of for years by its allies.

“For years, we allowed our country to be raped and pillaged,” Mr Trump told Fox News presenter Laura Ingraham on Wednesday night. “Much of it was done by our friends. Look at the European Union.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEurope, European Union, USA

Mark Carney looking to Europe to boost Canada’s security in shift away from reliance on U.S., sources say

OTTAWA — In an effort to pivot away from Canada’s overreliance on the U.S., Prime Minister Mark Carney is looking to Europe to build new security alliances and a new defence industrial strategy that could see European-designed fighter jets built in this country.

But two Canadian sources told the Star that prospect is only a possible implication of what Carney has set in motion after he ordered a review of the F-35 purchase plan, and travelled to Paris and London after discussing with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen his goal to see Canada be a player in the new drive to “rearm Europe.”

EU shuts Britain out of €150bn rearmament fund

A defense commitment to Brussels seems to be the price of admission. 

This sounds like the first move in preparation of the end of NATO and US participation in Europe’s defense?

The thing is Canada doesn’t have much by way of armed forces. No European country does, collectively they could be a reasonably formidable force assuming the will to fight exists.

But it makes no sense for a lightweight like Canada to be signing up to defend Brussels absent the protection of the US umbrella.

I bet Brookfield is scoping opportunities however.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, Europe, European Union

How America enfeebled Europe

Fighting to “rebalance” NATO, American leaders now look on the old continent with dismay. Europe cannot seem to muster the physical resources — and, still more, the cultural ones — to provide for its own defense. Even American liberals now mark this down to a late social democratic decadence, or civilizational ennui. To a certain kind of Elon Musk outrider, “Europe is cooked,” or, “Europe is a museum.”

At the end of the day there is plenty of blame to go round.

Related: Mapping Europe’s Coming Population Crash

Casting population growth as a sacred cow necessary to economic growth results in extremely harmful immigration policy as witnessed in Canada and the open borders policy of Europe and the Biden regime.

It’s an evil con job that reduces you and I to mere numbers for the likes of Carney, Brookfield and Klaus Schwab to tally.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEurope, Europe - demographic suicide, European Union, USA

Faith, Hope, and Babies

The United States’ fertility rate has fallen to around 1.78, which, combined with the general downward trajectory, is a cause for concern. To replace the population, a country needs to maintain a rate around 2.1.

When I was a young lieutenant arriving in Germany in 1995, I was surprised by three observations: how good beer can be, how secular European society had become, and the fact that Europeans weren’t having kids.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inDemography, Europe

What Canadians think about Canada joining the European Union

After reminding Canadians of the recent tariff threats and the musing of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state, we asked if the Canadian government should look into joining the European Union. 44% of Canadians think that the Canadian government definitely or probably should look into joining the European Union, while 34% are opposed to it. About 1 in 4 Canadians are unsure about the suggestion.

As if the Liberals and NDP aren’t already economy wreckers now they want the EU to help!

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, Europe, European Union, WTF?

J.D. Tuccille: America steps down as the world’s policeman

Anybody clinging to the hope that the United States will continue its post-Second World War role as the world’s policeman without major changes was likely disabused of that notion during the tumultuous Feb. 28 White House meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Perhaps the most astonishing part of that clash was that Trump was — for him — relatively restrained. Vice-President J.D. Vance seemed determined to derail the meeting and Zelenskyy apparently came looking for a fight. In the end, it was clear that, going forward, the United States government will assist other countries on its own terms, and only if there’s something to be gained.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, EU, Europe, NATO, USA

America and Europe: Both Need to Take a Deep Breath

“The US has reversed its alliances to side with Russia against Europe!” This is the idea that many commentators in Britain, France and Germany have been hammering in for the past week.

The Washington Post went even further: “For Europe, this is a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency moment. The United States, which has guaranteed European security against Russia for 80 years, appears to have switched sides under President Donald Trump.”

Apparently sharing that analysis, the European Union organized two summits that included Great Britain as an ad hoc member.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia", Europe, USA

Will the EU ever get tough on defence?

European leaders are in Brussels today for an emergency summit on defence, and the future of both Ukraine and the continent. In a further attempt to hash out a peace plan for Ukraine, the 27 EU heads of state are joined by Volodymyr Zelensky. Arriving this morning, Zelensky declared, ‘It’s great we are not alone’.

As part of today’s agenda, members of the bloc are expected to endorse Ursula von der Leyen’s ReArm Europe plan – which will make €150 billion (£125 billion) available in loans for members to boost defence spending. The summit will also likely discuss French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to extend his country’s ‘nuclear umbrella’ to its continental neighbours.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEU, Europe, European Union

Can Europe deter Russia in Ukraine without US military?

Donald Trump appears to have more confidence in the capabilities of Britain’s armed forces than some of his own generals – or, for that matter, many of Britain’s retired military top brass.

When asked at his news conference with the UK prime minister about US security guarantees for Ukraine, Trump said: “The British have incredible soldiers, incredible military and they can take care of themselves.”

However, the US president did leave the question hanging in the air as to whether the UK military could take on Russia.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEurope

How Does an Entire Continent Fail?

The Trump administration attempts to save Europe from itself.

The second Trump administration has hit the ground running, tackling the biggest problems faced by America and the world simultaneously. Some of the most vexing challenges facing humanity have their root in the European Union, which has created a spectacular failure for its member nations. Can President Trump and Vice President Vance force Europe to correct course before it slips away entirely?

We’re going to find out — because that’s exactly what the administration is pressuring them to do.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEurope, European Union, Trump World