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EU 2016: ANOTHER STEP TO BEING AN IMPORTANT GLOBAL POWER
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In the region, Turkey, a fundamental partner
of the European Union in tackling the Syrian
refugee crisis, was destabilised not only by re-
peated attacks that left 295 dead in 2016 alone,
but also by an attempted
coup d’état
on 15 July,
followed by an extensive and deep purge of the
administration, with 120,000 expelled from
public service and the closure of 160 media out-
lets.
The election of Donald Trump and the doubts
about transatlantic relations
Donald Trump’s victory in the last US presiden-
tial elections surprised public opinion. People
were not expecting it. Immediately, his state-
ments during the election campaign raised
doubts and uncertainties about how relations
between the European Union and the United
States would be conducted over the coming
years, in two areas in particular: security and
trade. Trump’s openly protectionist approach –
“America first” – clashed with the spirit of the
negotiation of the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership (TTIP). Likewise, his
statements on the possibility of turning his back
on NATO if Europe did not pay for its own secu-
rity, as well as his preference for strong leaders,
especially Vladimir Putin, raised many questions
in numerous European foreign ministries. The
commitments undertaken by Donald Trump on
migration issues during the election campaign
also raised the possibility of the reinstatement
of European citizens requiring a visa to enter the
United States.
The first gestures of European political lead-
ers were significant. Marine Le Pen, the leader
of the French far right, was the first European
political leader to congratulate him on Twitter.
The first known photo of Trump with a European
politician following his election was for the
British pro-Brexit populist Nigel Farage. Dutch
anti-European leader Geert Wilders was also
quick to welcome Trump’s victory. However,
Angela Merkel and François Hollande were
much more cautious. The German leader ex-
pressed her willingness to cooperate with the
new administration but “putting unquestiona-
ble values and principles first”. The French pres-
ident went further and made a call to be “vigi-
lant, as a period of uncertainty is opening up”.
For her part, High Representative Federica
Mogherini said, “the bonds between the EU
and the United States are much deeper than
any political change”. Undoubtedly, the vicissi-
tudes that transatlantic relations may suffer will
be the key to the EU’s foreign policy in 2017 and
beyond.
The changes in Latin America mark the
European Union’s foreign agenda
Latin America occupied the Union’s foreign pol-
icy in 2016 as it had not done for years. Several
events contributed to that. There was the peace
process in Colombia after 52 years of armed
conflict, which was rejected in the referendum
of 2 October 2016 by 50.21 percent of the vote
and, finally, resumed thanks to the second
peace agreement voted by the Colombian
Congress on 30 November. There was the on-
going and crushing political tension in
Venezuela. Above all, there was the change in
Cuba’s international relations, with the reestab-
lishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba
and the United States in July 2015, followed by
the first visit to the island by a US President for
90 years (Barack Obama made an official visit to
Havana on 20 March), all of which was capped
by the demise of Fidel Castro on 25 November.