Sonja van den Ende
Europe is trying to save face now that America has become a country beyond repair and unreliable.
President Putin of Russia is currently the EU's greatest geopolitical enemy. Until recently, the EU's worldview was aligned with that of the US-that is, until Trump became the US's new colonial MAGA ruler and ushered in the new MAGA America. The "love" between the two brothers, America and Europe, is thus over. Europeans now live on a self-imposed island of isolation, where the appearance of a good life and democracy is maintained by politically funded media.
EU countries are creating countless enemies to mask their incompetence on the world stage, following America's example. Now, practically everyone is an enemy-including their shining example and "Atlantic brother" since 1945, America-which some, especially many Germans (former GDR citizens), consider an occupier of Europe. We can now say that America, Donald Trump along with Putin (Russia), is the newest and greatest enemy of the European Union, especially of the Western European and Baltic countries.
So, for these deranged EU politicians, everyone is an enemy-from Putin to Trump. They call Maduro, who was brutally kidnapped, the enemy; Khamenei the enemy; Putin the enemy; Xi a dictator; and China a dangerous country with a social credit system (which the EU itself wants to implement). On this issue, they slavishly follow the madman Trump's policy of a world without rules, while, according to the same politicians and media, Trump-along with Putin-is by far the greatest enemy of those same liberal EU politicians. Are you still following?
But something new and remarkable is happening within the inner circle of the European Union itself: the relationship between Führerin Ursula von der Leyen and the outspoken Russia critic Kaja Kallas is no longer good. New enemies are thus emerging within the EU itself, which usually means the end of a bloc, organization, or country.
According to a senior EU official, "Kaja Kallas, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, has internally called the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen a 'dictator.'" Kallas "complains internally that she (von der Leyen) is a dictator, but she can do little or nothing about it," the anonymous official told the press.
Also, according to EU insiders and information leaked to the news website Politico, the relationship between von der Leyen and Kallas is even more tense than it was with her predecessor, Josep Borrell. The relationship between Borrell and von der Leyen was already considered difficult, but according to several EU insiders, the situation is now "even worse." The underlying cause is a conflict over powers and influence.
Last year, the EU Commission, led by Führerin von der Leyen, stripped Kallas of her responsibility for the Mediterranean region and instead created a new Directorate-General for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf, which reports directly to the Commission-meaning to Ursula.
Also, Mark Rutte, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands and now head of NATO, is no longer popular with the ultra-liberals in the European Union. He is "too" friendly with Trump. After his statements about the coming major war with Russia-which he phrased as "NATO member states could be Russia's 'next target' if the aggression is not stopped"-he emphasized that the conflict is literally "on our doorstep" and that Europe must prepare its minds for a possible war. The entire Western press and social media were outraged that he dared to claim that a coming (imagined) war would be worse than that of our "grandparents or parents."
In a recent interview for a Dutch broadcaster, Rutte refused to comment on American claims to Greenland. However, the issue threatened to split NATO. Denmark and its European allies reacted with shock to Trump's insistence, particularly to the fact that he did not rule out military intervention. Rutte should have defended Denmark, it was said in Copenhagen. He continued the interview as follows, defending Trump's diplomatic approach, stating that Trump is working effectively, and praising him for increasing defense spending in Europe-which was naturally not appreciated (the defense spending increase) by many southern EU countries in particular, which are already in a difficult financial situation.
But Mark Rutte went even further, resolutely rejecting calls for a large European army during his recent appearance before the European Parliament in Brussels. Rutte addressed proponents of a European army independent of the US-led NATO: "Europe is incapable of defending itself without the US army," Rutte said. "If anyone here still believes that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the US, then you're stupid." "I wish you the best of luck if you want to do this, because you'll have to find the men and women in uniform," he said. He admitted that most Europeans, even after aggressive propaganda in various countries like the Netherlands to serve in the army and fight Putin's Russia, firmly reject it. "I think Putin will love that," he said about the idea of a European army. "So think about it carefully if you go ahead," he said.
You can say a lot about Mark Rutte, and I do so regularly because I know him through my Dutch background, and I myself have been involved in Dutch politics for over thirteen years. This time, he took a cunning approach (he is very cunning and sly). He tried to drive a wedge between Trump and Putin's stance on Ukraine, and unfortunately, he succeeded. The goal was to align the US with the radicalized EU and its war against Russia. Trump, politically clueless (he's a businessman) and easily appeased, has already changed his strategy regarding Ukraine. This happened after the Alaska summit and the summit in The Hague.
The turning point came during the June 2025 NATO summit in The Hague, a meeting of heads of state and government from the 32 NATO member states, where Trump was invited as a special guest and Rutte called him "Daddy," thus becoming Trump's best friend. These days, diplomacy and political acumen are no longer necessary; it's all about sycophancy and personal attention, which is certainly reprehensible in itself, but the world has become a jungle where only the strongest survive ! This U-turn was cemented during the summit in The Hague in June 2025, which was followed by the Alaska summit in August 2025 between Putin and Trump. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done by the European Union, NATO, and, of course, Mark Rutte himself.
Unfortunately, there are also disruptive factors present in Trump's administration, such as Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham, who are fierce opponents of Russia. Trump, of course, listens to them. Moreover, Ukraine is no longer high on the US agenda; the focus has now shifted to Iran and South America. But these regime-change attempts and wars in the aforementioned countries were, or still are, targeting allies of Russia to weaken it. That's why many politicians in the European Union and other European countries agree with Trump on this regime-change policy, stemming from the old US playbook; after all, these deranged EU politicians say: as long as Russia can be destroyed, we're happy, no matter the cost. To use the words of the late Madeleine Albright (on dead children in Iraq): "It's just collateral damage."
At the end of January, another spectacle called the World Economic Forum (WEF) took place in Davos, Switzerland. It became painfully clear that Europe has lost its luster. Macron, wearing sunglasses, joked about the loss of America and the "rules-based order"-an order which essentially amounted to Western dominance or, as some argue, the end of colonization. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney echoed this sentiment in his speech.
Europe is trying to save face now that America has become a country beyond repair and unreliable-except for Mark Rutte, who has Trump wrapped around his finger. Unfortunately, one has to give him credit for this. But Trump is unreliable, and his government is inexperienced and narrow-minded, closed to the outside world. It's essentially a government for the rich, who all make insane plans for the rich, like the futuristic city they want to turn Gaza into-for the rich, not for the poor Palestinians, of course.
In his stupidity, he confuses peace with money and thinks that a futuristic city is the solution. This shows that he has absolutely no idea-just like his government-about what is actually going on in the countries he would like to conquer, or what was really happening in Ukraine, meaning the Donbas. Social media campaigns are being set up, such as the one on X for the overthrow of the Iranian government, and deep fakes are used about so-called major uprisings, which are actually hot air. Let us hope that the Trump administration is also hot air, but another three years is a long time-too long, if you ask me. It will plunge the world into chaos, under the rule of the jungle, and as we already see, into wars.