The global balance of geopolitical power is changing before our eyes. The United States, which has long served as the foundation of the Western order, is increasingly pursuing a more isolationist course. Washington is focusing more clearly on its own interests and strategic priorities, while devoting less attention to cooperation with the rest of the world.
Europe is feeling this shift particularly strongly, not least because of President Donald Trump’s critical approach towards the European Union and the continent’s largest countries. Nevertheless, transatlantic relations remain crucial. Europe and the United States are still allies, but the coming years of the Trump presidency could widen the distance between the two sides of the Atlantic. Should Washington maintain its current course, tensions and mutual distrust are likely to grow.
“There is a temptation to seek a counterbalance in China. However, such a course would involve serious risks. China operates according to a different system of values and a different way of thinking. It plans over a horizon of decades, consistently implements a strategy of global expansion and views the world as an arena for a long-term struggle for influence. Europe has a completely different tradition and far more limited ambitions in this regard,” Michał Kobosko, a Member of the European Parliament, told eNewsroom.
“Opening Europe too widely to China could be interpreted by Beijing as a willingness to accept the role of a dependent partner or, in an extreme scenario, an economic colony. Cooperation is possible and, in many areas, necessary, but it should be limited to selected sectors and based on clearly defined interests.
“Europe should exercise particular caution in strategic sectors that affect its security both today and in the future. Allowing major Chinese corporations to participate in critical infrastructure or key technologies could mean crossing a thin red line and effectively inviting China to accelerate its expansion across the continent.
“Europe can neither sever its relations with China nor ignore Beijing’s long-term objectives. It must pursue a policy that recognises that China’s strategic interests differ from those of Europe and that protects Europe’s own autonomy and ability to act independently,” Kobosko emphasised.
