Having settled into the White House at the beginning of the year, President Trump adopted a policy oriented towards normalizing relations with Russia, while the leading European powers, building on their policy of Russophobia, were opposed to this.
In October, 2025, the popular French magazine Monde Diplomatique published an article entitled “Europe is headed in the wrong direction along the road of history”. It harshly criticizes the Brussels (EU) bureaucracy, which in late July adopted an extremely unfavorable agreement with the United States wherein European exports will be subject to a 15% customs duty on imports into the United States, while industrial goods and some agricultural products (soybean oil, seeds, cereals, nuts, ketchup, cookies, cocoa) from the US will be freely imported to Europe. The EU Commission also pledged to ensure that the Old World will purchase EUR 700 billion worth of American energy resources and attract EUR 550 billion worth of private European investments in the US.
Europeans’ quality of life will drop
The Western press has published many materials about how Western European states are lagging behind the United States economically and especially in the field of technology. Bloomberg recently warned that Europe could become a “technological colony” of the United States.
The Washington Post recently published an article stating that the European powers are no longer able to maintain the same standard of living; the current generation will live worse than their parents and grandparents. The German economy, for example, which was previously considered the driver of development, is in a state of stagnation after two consecutive years of recession, companies are letting workers go, the infrastructure is in ruins, and the government is preparing for massive cuts.
France’s economy is stuck in a low-growth spiral, and budget problems have become the culmination of the country’s most unstable political period in recent decades.
On October 5, the New York Times reported that losses have become an integral part of life in Europe, some of which are related to the environment. Rising temperatures, extreme weather conditions, habitat loss and the destruction of entire regions are negatively affecting people’s living conditions. Deindustrialization and global competition have split society into winners and losers, and Europe itself has become a continent of an aging population. All this testifies to the destruction of the liberal order, which was once considered irreversible, and there is a sense of a historical turnaround. Instead of continuous democratization, there is a return of rivalry and violence. It is being perceived as a loss not of material wealth, but of confidence and security.
This situation is aggravated by ruling structures’ very low level of management and lacking competence. This is particularly reflected in the increasingly active protests against the current leaders. Even the British press is constantly writing about the fragility of power in the UK. France’s prime ministers are constantly changing, but this does not bring the country any closer to solving the country’s budget issues. The recent workers’ strike in Belgium has practically paralyzed Brussels. At the same time, the Western European authorities continue to blame Russia for everything, believing that the best way out of the current crisis would be to seize $300 billion worth of Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves frozen in European banks.
As American economist Richard Wolf recently noted, the current level of Western hostility towards Russia looks ridiculous and is illogical. European countries’ attempts to build a security system without Russia’s participation could easily fail.
The role of Western Europe in international politics is decreasing
The role of Western Europe as an important center of power is rapidly declining. It is noteworthy that the Americans are making all the main steps towards resolving the Ukraine crisis without the participation of their European allies. Trump’s plan for the Middle East was discussed with Israel and Arab and Muslim states. European leaders were invited only to the signing ceremony of the agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Gaza, which took place in the Egyptian Sharm El-Sheikh, to create an “international backdrop”. According to German newspapers, European leaders looked like extras, while Trump could not resist publicly mocking Keir Starmer and the Norwegian Prime Minister (since the Nobel Committee denied him the peace prize).
The US press is increasingly mocking the European Commission, headed by Ursula von der Leyen. The other day, the European Parliament rejected two no-confidence votes against the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The first proposal was made by the far-right Patriots for Europe (PfE) faction (179 votes in favor, 378 against, 37 abstentions). The second vote was proposed by the Left faction (133 parliamentarians supported it, 383 deputies opposed it, and 78 more abstained). PfE accused von der Leyen of a failed migration policy, suspicious dealings and a “green deal” that was unprofitable for the European Union. “The EU is weaker today than ever due to the constant inability of the head of the European Commission to cope with the most pressing challenges”, the PfE draft resolution said, calling for the resignation of the head of the European Commission. Newspapers are relishing the details of the corruption allegations against the head of the European Commission, particularly in connection with the purchase of vaccines against COVID-19.
As is known, many European countries refused to buy Russian energy resources under political pressure, which cost them almost one and a half trillion dollars. Hence, the decline in industrial turnover, rising prices due to more expensive overseas oil and gas, and a decrease in the competitiveness of European goods and the economy as a whole.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at an energy forum on October 16, industrial production in the Eurozone from July this year was 1.2%, which is lower than 2021 figures. Industrial production continues to decline in the so-called locomotive of the European economy, Germany. The figures from this July were 6.6% lower in comparison to the average for 2021.
Economic problems lead to a weakening of political stability and uncertainty, which is particularly evident in France, where the new Lecornu cabinet recently managed to avoid a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly (only 18 votes were missing). As former adviser to the French president Henri Guaino noted, the issues surrounding the position of prime minister in France may have serious consequences. According to him, the president’s resignation may become inevitable, but it will only exacerbate “the consequences of the current disorder”.
Muhammad Amer, Syrian publicist
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