President Donald Trump’s verdict on Europe: a “decaying” group of nations led by “weak” people.
His criticism in a recent Politico interview adds to a tough period for the bloc, with challenges on multiple fronts testing European leaders in the final weeks of the year.
Next week looks set to be critical, with a high-stakes summit in Brussels and the European Central Bank’s final policy meeting of the year. Let’s take a look at some of the key topics for next week:
At the summit in Brussels on Thursday (and possibly extending into Friday), European leaders are expected to address the most pressing challenge — how to sharpen military capabilities and support the funding of the war in Ukraine.
Key to this is an agreement on how to use billions of frozen Russian assets to underpin a 210-billion-euro loan ($246 billion) to Kyiv. Defending Ukraine’s borders as part of any peace agreement will also remain critical, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposing a vote or referendum within Ukraine on whether to allow parts of the Donbas region to be ceded to Russia as part of the U.S. peace plan.
