The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Donald Tusk

  • EU chief warns Trump to appreciate NATO allies

    United States President, Donald Trump, is set to meet other NATO leaders for potentially fractious talks at a summit in Brussels shortly.

    Ahead of his visit, Mr. Trump hit out at the European Union on trade and at his NATO allies for failing to spend enough on defence, the BBC reports.

    He was met with a sharp rebuke from European Council President, Donald Tusk, who accused the U.S President of criticising Europe “almost daily.”

    “Dear America, appreciate your allies, after all you don’t have that many.”

    Mr. Tusk added that the EU spent more than Russia on defence, and as much as China.

    He said the U.S did not and would not have a better ally than the EU, reminding the President that European troops had also fought and died in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.

    For his part, President Trump predicted that the NATO meeting could be harder than his summit with the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, in Finland next Monday.

  • EU chief urges Trump to ‘make trade, not war’

    EU Council President Donald Tusk has urged the U.S. to resume trade talks amid a looming trade conflict between the two trading blocs.

    “Make trade, not war, Mr President,” Tusk said on Wednesday, addressing U.S. President Donald Trump following talks in the Finnish capital of Helsinki with Prime Minister, Juha Sipila.

    On March 8, Trump declared global tariffs of 25 per cent on imported steel and 10 per cent on aluminium with exemptions for Canada and Mexico and potential flexibility for others, triggering a wave of international condemnation and stoking fears of a trade war.

    The U.S. president defended the decision on Wednesday, tweeting: “We cannot keep a blind eye to the rampant unfair trade practices against our country!”

    Tusk said the U.S. president’s proposal “is a bad sign for transatlantic relations” and underlined the need to “go back to EU-U.S. trade talks now.”

    The EU has mentioned it could introduce counter-tariffs on U.S. products including bourbon, Harley Davidson motorcycles and Levi’s jeans.

    “When the president complains of too many tariffs between the EU and the U.S., I can understand him. We are not happy either,” Tusk said.

    Tusk reminded of historic ties between Europe and the U.S., and noted that Trump has said “real friends will be excluded from the proposed measures.’’

    “I would like to stress today that the free world has survived the most difficult decades only thanks to the fact that Europeans and Americans have been real friends, so let us cherish this friendship, not challenge it,” he added.

    dpa/NAN

  • Brexit talks move to next stage – EU

    Brexit talks move to next stage – EU

    European Union (EU) leaders have agreed to move Brexit talks on to the second phase but called for “further clarity” from the United Kingdom about the future relationship it wants.

    The first issue to be discussed, early next year, will be the details of an expected two-year transition period after the UK’s exit in March 2019.

    Talks on trade and security co-operation are set to follow in March.

    British Prime Minister,Theresa May, hailed an “important step” on the road but Germany’s Angela Merkel said it would get “even tougher.”

    The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, broke the news that the 27 EU leaders were happy to move on to phase two after they met in Brussels.

    He congratulated Mrs. May on reaching this stage and said the EU would begin internal preparations for the next phase right now as well as “exploratory contacts with the UK to get more clarity on their vision.”

    While securing a deal in time for the UK’s exit in March 2019 was realistic, he suggested that the next phase would be “more challenging and more demanding.”

     

  • G7 leaders brace for clash with Trump on trade, climate

    G7 leaders brace for clash with Trump on trade, climate

    Leaders of the world’s rich nations braced for contentious talks with Donald Trump at a G7 summit in Sicily on Friday after the U.S. president lambasted NATO allies for not spending more on defense and accused Germany of “very bad” trade policies.

    Trump’s confrontational remarks in Brussels, on the eve of the two-day summit in the Mediterranean resort town of Taormina, cast a pall over a meeting at which America’s partners had hoped to coax him into softening his stances on trade and climate change.

    The summit will kick off with a ceremony at an ancient Greek theater perched on a cliff overlooking the sea, before the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S. begin talks on terrorism, Syria, North Korea and the global economy.

    “We will have a very robust discussion on trade and we will be talking about what free and open means,” White House economic adviser Gary Cohn told reporters late Thursday.

    He also predicted “fairly robust” talks on whether Trump should honor a U.S. commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

    Trump, who dismissed man-made global warming a “hoax” during his election campaign, is not expected to decide at the summit whether he will stick with the Paris deal, negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama.

    Even if a decision is not forthcoming, European leaders have signaled that they will push Trump hard on the Paris emissions deal, which has comprehensive support across the continent.

    “This is the first real opportunity that the international community has to force the American administration to begin to show its hand, particularly on environment policy,” said Tristen Naylor, a lecturer on development at the University of Oxford and deputy director of the G20 Research Group.

    The summit, being held near Europe’s most active volcano, Mount Etna, is the final leg of a nine-day tour for Trump, his first foreign trip since becoming president, that started in the Middle East.

    On Thursday in Brussels, with NATO leaders standing alongside him, he accused members of the military alliance of owing “massive amounts of money” to the U.S. and NATO, even though allied contributions are voluntary.

    According to German media reports, he also condemned Germany for “very bad” trade policies in meetings with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk, signaling that he would take steps to limit the sales of German cars in the U.S.

    EU officials declined to confirm the reports.

    Trump will not be the only G7 newcomer.

    French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and British Prime Minister Theresa May will also be attending the elite club for the first time.

    May is expected to leave a day early, following Monday’s suicide bombing at a concert in northern England that killed 22 people and was allegedly carried out by a young Islamist militant of Libyan descent who grew up in Britain.

    Italy chose to stage the summit in Sicily to draw attention to Africa, which is 225 km from the island at its closest point across the Mediterranean.

    No fewer than half a million migrants, most from sub-Saharan Africa, have reached Italy by boat since 2014, taking advantage of the chaos in Libya to launch their perilous crossings.

    Italy is eager for wealthy nations to do much more to help develop Africa’s economy and make it more appealing for youngsters to stay in their home countries.

    The leaders of Tunisia, Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria and Kenya will join the discussions on Saturday to say what should be done to encourage investment and innovation on their continent.

    One country that won’t be present is Russia.

    It was expelled from the group in 2014 following its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

    Trump called for improved ties with Moscow during his election campaign.

    Accusations from U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia intervened in the U.S. election to help Trump, and investigations into his campaign’s contacts with Russian officials, have hung over his four-month-old presidency and prevented him from getting too close to Moscow.

    On Thursday, the Washington Post and NBC News reported that Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner was under scrutiny by the FBI because of his meetings with Russian officials before Trump took office.

  • EU to hold Brexit summit on April 29

    EU to hold Brexit summit on April 29

    The European Union’s 27 leaders will meet on April 29 to agree their negotiating lines for Brexit talks after London sends in a formal notification that it wants to leave the bloc, the chairman of the summit, Donald Tusk, said on Tuesday.

    The meeting is a necessary step before the negotiations between Britain and the 27 remaining EU states can start formally.

    London said on Monday it would send in its exit notification on March 29.

    “In view of what was announced in London yesterday, I’d like to inform you that I will call a European Council on Saturday,  April 29, to adopt the guidelines for the Brexit talks,” Tusk told reporters.

    “You know I personally wish the UK hadn’t chosen to leave the EU, but the majority of British voters decided otherwise.

    Therefore we must do everything we can to make the process of divorce the least painful for the EU.”

    The unprecedented talks are due to run for two years, though many diplomats and officials admit it would probably take longer.

    “Our main priority for the negotiations must be to create as much certainty and clarity as possible for all citizens, companies and member states that will be negatively affected by Brexit, as well as our important partners and friends around the world,” Tusk added.

    NAN recalls that the meeting will be held exactly one month after Britain officially notifies the EU of its intention to leave the bloc.

    The U.K. on Monday announced that it will trigger Article 50 and officially begin divorce talks on March 29.

    The formal triggering will take the form of a letter from  May to Tusk, Downing Street said.

    May’s spokesman declined to give further details of the content of the letter, but senior government officials familiar with the government’s thinking expect it to set out a “positive” vision of the future relationship Britain wants with Brussels after Brexit, including a comprehensive free-trade agreement.

  • EU invites Trump to early summit

    Leaders of the European Union institutions have invited United States President-elect, Donald Trump, to a summit as soon as he can schedule one.

    Reuters says this was mentioned as key in a letter signed by the leaders on Wednesday congratulating Trump on his election as the new U.S. President.

    “Today, it is more important than ever to strengthen transatlantic relations,” wrote Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, presidents respectively of the European Council, which groups member states, and the executive European Commission.

    “Only by cooperating closely can the EU and U.S continue to make a difference when dealing with unprecedented challenges such as Da’esh, the threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, climate change and migration,” they said.

    The leaders said that “fortunately, the EU-U.S strategic partnership was broad and deep, from our joint efforts to enhance energy security and address climate change.

    “Through EU-U.S collaboration on facing threats to security in Europe’s Eastern and Southern neighbourhoods and to the negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

    “We should spare no effort to ensure that the ties that bind us remain strong and durable,” the EU leaders said.

  • UK ‘may begin Brexit early 2017’

    United Kingdom Prime Minister, Theresa May, is likely to trigger the formal process of leaving the European Union early next year, according to a top EU official.

    European Council President, Donald Tusk, said Mrs. May had told him the UK could be ready to begin talks by February.

    The BBC says this is the clearest sign yet of when the two-year withdrawal process may start.

    Mrs. May’s office said it would not be launched this year, but did not confirm Mr. Tusk’s account.

    Formal negotiations over the withdrawal cannot begin until the UK triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal mechanism for leaving the union.

    The timing of the process has so-far been clouded by uncertainty, with no clear signal from Mrs. May’s government on when it would begin.

    There is also confusion over the nature of the UK’s future relationship with the bloc, especially whether it intends to remain a member of the single market.

    Mr. Tusk spoke from the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, where Europe’s 27 other leaders are gathered for an informal summit without the UK.

    Speaking about a meeting with the British PM in London last week, Mr. Tusk said: “Prime Minister May was very open and honest with me.

    “She declared that it’s almost impossible to trigger Article 50 this year but it’s quite likely that they will be ready maybe in January maybe in February next year.”

     

  • EU leaders to UK: We regret but respect your decision

    EU leaders to UK: We regret but respect your decision

    The leaders of the European Union (EU) have expressed regret over the decision of Britain to leave the union but say they respect the decision of the people.

    This is contained in a joint statement issued by the EU leaders on Friday in Brussels obtained from the Delegation of the European Union to Nigeria and ECOWAS in Abuja.

    The EU leaders included Donald Tusk, President of the European Council and Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament.

    The others were Prime Minister Mark Rutte, holder of the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, and Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission.

    The statement said Tusk, Schulz and Rutte met on Friday morning in Brussels on the invitation of Juncker, and discussed the outcome of the United Kingdom referendum.

    “In a free and democratic process, the British people have expressed their wish to leave the European Union. We regret this decision but respect it.

    “This is an unprecedented situation but we are united in our response.

    “We will stand strong and uphold the EU’s core values of promoting peace and the well-being of its peoples,” the leaders jointly stated.

    They pledged that the remaining members of the EU would carry on with the vision of the union.

    “The Union of 27 member states will continue. The Union is the framework of our common political future.

    “We are bound together by history, geography and common interests and will develop our cooperation on this basis.

    “Together we will address our common challenge to generate growth, increase prosperity and ensure a safe and secure environment for our citizens.

    “The institutions will play their full role in this endeavour,” the EU leaders said.

    They, however, asked the UK to, as a matter of urgency, formalise its exit without any further delay.

    “We now expect the United Kingdom government to give effect to this decision of the British people as soon as possible, however painful that process may be.

    “Any delay will unnecessarily prolong uncertainty. We have rules to deal with this in an orderly way.

    “Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union sets out the procedure to be followed if a Member State decides to leave the European Union,” they said.

    According to them, the UK, technically, remains a member of the EU until it fulfills all the conditions for its formal withdrawal.

    “We stand ready to launch negotiations swiftly with the United Kingdom regarding the terms and conditions of its withdrawal from the European Union.

    “Until this process of negotiations is over, the United Kingdom remains a member of the European Union, with all the rights and obligations that derive from this.

    “According to the Treaties which the United Kingdom has ratified, EU law continues to apply to the full to and in the United Kingdom until it is no longer a Member.”

    “As agreed, the New Settlement for the United Kingdom within the European Union”, reached at the European Council on Feb. 18 to 19, 2016, will now not take effect.

    “It ceases to exist. There will be no renegotiations,” the EU leaders said.

    They, however, pledged continued close relationship with the UK in their future dealings.

    “As regards the United Kingdom, we hope to have it as a close partner of the European Union also in the future.

    “We expect the United Kingdom to formulate its proposals in this respect.

    “Any agreement, which will be concluded with the United Kingdom as a third country, will have to reflect the interests of both sides and be balanced in terms of rights and obligations,” the leaders said.

  • ‘EU reforms cannot be reversed’

    The package of reforms negotiated by British Prime Minister, David Cameron, cannot be reversed by European judges, according to the EU Council president.

    Donald Tusk told MEPs the deal was “legally binding and irreversible.”

    It comes after Justice Secretary Michael Gove told the BBC the European Court of Justice could throw out some measures without EU treaty change.

    Both Downing Street and attorney general Jeremy Wright said the reforms cannot be reversed.

    A United Kingdom referendum on whether to remain a member of the European Union will take place on June 23, with the Conservative Party and David Cameron’s cabinet divided over which side to support.

    Mr. Gove, one of five cabinet ministers campaigning for an EU exit, said that without treaty change all elements of the PM’s renegotiation settlement were potentially subject to legal challenge.

    “The facts are that the European Court of Justice is not bound by this agreement until treaties are changed and we don’t know when that will be,” he said.