Mentre il presidente degli Stati Uniti attacca, von der Leyen si nasconde

“ A hackneyed bit of German folk wisdom holds that “speaking is silver, silence is gold.”

In other words, sometimes it’s better to stay quiet than to say something you’ll regret.

When it comes to Donald Trump, Ursula von der Leyen has turned the phrase into something of a leitmotif, as she proved again over the weekend. Facing a barrage of mendacious claims about the EU from the US vice president and a rogue’s gallery of administration officials and MAGA hangers-on, von der Leyen was notable for her silence.

Asked on Friday about the US’ latest “National Security Strategy” – which paints Europe as a continent facing “civilisational erasure” and the EU as a “transnational body that undermines political liberty and sovereignty” – von der Leyen’s chief spokesperson replied: “We’re not yet in a position to comment on any of it.”

If nothing else, von der Leyen is consistent. Ever since Trump began his second term 11 months ago, the Commission president’s response to the American president’s taunts and provocations has been the same: grin and bear it (with a heavy emphasis on the grinning).

Trump, who knows when he has someone cornered, has responded by publicly mocking her, joking last summer, after imposing 15% tariffs on European goods, about how “powerful” she was compared to the continent’s national leaders.

For Europe, there is nothing funny about the clear signals Washington has sent over the last three days.

In what appeared to be a carefully coordinated effort, leading administration officials and their allies painted the EU as threat to democracy and free speech. They vowed to support what the National Security Strategy refers to as “patriotic parties” (read ‘far right’).

While insisting in the strategy document that the continent “remains strategically and culturally vital to the United States,” they ominously pledged “to help Europe correct its current trajectory.”

A big part of Washington’s envisioned course-correction will involve pushing Ukraine into a peace deal with Russia. In the eyes of the Trump administration, the vast majority of Europeans want peace, but have been led astray by their “unstable minority governments, many of which trample on basic principles of democracy to suppress opposition.”

In a predictable, if worrying development, the Trump crowd was cheered by their Russian allies, including former President Dmitry Medvedev and Alexander Dugin, Vladimir Putin’s political guru.

The ostensible reason for Trump world’s sudden outburst of rage was the Commission’s long-anticipated announcement on Friday that it would impose a €120 million fine on Elon Musk’s X for breaching transparency obligations required by the EU’s Digital Services Act.

Though the fine is negligible for someone of Musk’s means, the penalty offered the MAGA activists a perfect opportunity to accuse the EU of “censorship” for daring to enforce its own laws. On X, Republican Senator Ted Cruz called on Trump to “impose SANCTIONS until this travesty is reversed,” while Musk comparedthe EU to Nazi Germany.

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, meanwhile, appeared to put America’s security guarantee for Europe on the table.

“The nations of Europe cannot look to the US for their own security at the same time they affirmatively undermine the security of the US itself through the (unelected, undemocratic, and unrepresentative) EU,” he warned after enjoying some Belgian frites and a visit to the Tintin store.

In the EU quarter, meanwhile, the boldest resistance came from the ranks of the Parliament, including Austrian liberal Helmut Brandstätter, who pointed out Trump’s well-documented efforts to attack the free press in the US. His show of courage appeared to have gotten more attention from the Trump administration than anyone in the Berlaymont, however.

The only senior European official to respond to Washington’s salvos was the Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat. Yet judging by her comments, she appeared to have either not read or not fully understood the Trump administration’s shot across Europe’s bow.

“Of course, there’s a lot of criticism, but I think some of it is also true,” Kallas said at the Doha Forum, in response to a question from CNN’s Christiane Amanpour about the American strategy paper. She insisted that the “US is still our biggest ally”.

Kallas’ twaddle underscored the need for real European leadership to respond to what one of Europe’s most sober observers has called “a declaration of political war”.

Don’t get your hopes up. There will be no bold stroke, no European moment to match Trump’s defiant declaration after getting shot in 2024 to “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Von der Leyen may have proved adept over the decades at fighting for her own political survival, but when it comes to policy, her instinct is to err on the side of caution. In this case that likely means following the lead of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, another weak leader with a record of kowtowing to Trump rather than challenging him.

In contrast to his counterparts, Trump – despite his shyness over his German heritage – has been much more successful in internalising the ur-teaching of Teutonic lore:

“Those who fight may lose. Those who don’t fight have already lost.” – Euractiv

To be honest, I don’t see how responding verbally would be productive.

Read between the lines, the EU is making preparations to decouple, like shifting long term contracts away from the US, unifying the financial markets and expanding the European reaction groups to 60,000 initially. Plus rapidly funding infrastructure that would allow for troop deployments.

Hell, legislation passed parliament for the direct election of the Comission President. We are becoming one country, folks!

The smart thing to do is say what Trump wants to hear, and move on.

I think it’s okay to not comment every silly little thing the orange guy says as most of it is just rage-bait to create material for the great American reality TV show he is starring in, but we, the people of Europe, deserve to know what the EU’s plan is for dealing with this now unreliable partner.

Talk to us, Uschi.

VDL is not getting paid to shoot her mouth off when provoked into doing so. I’m not a fan of hers, but she’s right in not responding.

The response needs to be in actions over the next 12 to 36 months, EC in sync with governments.

Once again Europe is trying to catch up…too late too slow…

“In what appeared to be a carefully coordinated effort, leading administration officials and their allies painted the EU as threat to democracy and free speech.”

Jimmy Kimmel has entered the chat…

Typical. Trump is right on European leaders being weak, as much as I hate to agree with him. VDL needs to go, after all the scandals, the horrendous ‘trade deal’ with the US and lots of other dissapointments, she was given another term instead of being replaced. Absolutely corrupt process imo.

Hiding or doing diplomacy with other EU countries and Canada behind the curtains?

She (the commission) is not the leader of the EU, that’s the council. The EU doesn’t have a president. It’s not her role to give the first response

Mrs. Failing upwards while everything around here crumbles. Thank you.

What a weird opinion peace. Von der Leyen gets her mandate from the member states. And definitely is not to going to give a quick fiery response. Every European head of state realises the USA is no longer an ally. The greatest gift of the Trump presidency is that they do not hide their intentions and directly parrot the Kremlin’s attack points. No one in Europe has any doubts or illusions, it is up to our leaders to prepare while being diplomatic in public to limit the chaos and fall-out of the transition.

Can we have that Chinese guy instead? Oh wait….. he actually also went into “hiding”.

Personally, I believe the best thing to do, is ignore him.

We buy shitloads of military hardware from the US, both for ourselves and for Ukraine, if he wants to ruin that, then let him.

> Asked on Friday about the US’ latest “National Security Strategy” – which paints Europe as a continent facing “civilisational erasure” and the EU as a “transnational body that undermines political liberty and sovereignty” – von der Leyen’s chief spokesperson replied: “We’re not yet in a position to comment on any of it.”

What’s causing our (Europe’s) “civilizational erasure” I’m curious

Man the headlines are increasingly inflammatory… Sure, I’m convinced more everyday Ursula has nlo clue what she is doing, but every little thing is just blown out of proportion. 

Downvoting for click bait title. Whatever happened to journalism..!?

A continent facing civilizational erasure could probably use some cash. They should start selling off their US treasuries.

“Hiding” as in doing her actual job instead of shit-talking for zero effect?