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Should Europe fear Trump’s re-election?

Donald Trump’s re-election: it could become reality after the November 2024 elections. According to various experts across Europe and the US, Europe needs to prepare for the potential implications of this scenario for European security. Professor Luuk van Middelaar, an expert in European Law, discussed this during the Dutch current affairs television programme 'Nieuwsuur' and in an article on Dutch public broadcaster NOS.

Trump has elaborate plans for his return to power and is ‘more convinced than ever that being responsible for European security is not in the interests of the US,’ says Van Middelaar. Europe should expect ties with NATO to be severed.

Van Middelaar goes on to say that ‘Europe needs to adopt a more power-oriented mindset and put on a united front to the rest of the world’. It was for this reason that, back in 2022, he founded the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics with support from the French, German and Dutch heads of government. Van Middelaar feels that European leaders are still very conservative, while the decisions that Europe will face in the event of Trump's re-election will have far-reaching consequences.

‘We need to mentally adjust to that,’ Van Middelaar argues.

More information

Nieuwsuur broadcast

Full NOS article

Foto Christian Lue via Unsplash

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