Hungarian Summit: Europe’s Leaders Focus On Trump’s Victory

The re-election of Donald Trump to the White House is focusing minds in Europe, and with dozens of leaders meeting in Budapest, they have the perfect chance to talk it through.

Trump’s first term in office saw a dramatic souring of relations. He was angry that European countries didn’t pay more towards their own security.

He was livid about the US trade deficit with Europe. And he seemed particularly irate with EU big power Germany on both those counts. Just ask German ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel.

So, what will the future Trump presidency mean for the continent? And in particular, for Ukraine?

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky is in the Hungarian capital for a meeting of the European Political Community. It was the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron – launched following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a talking-shop to jointly tackle continental challenges.

The fear here is that the new US administration will slow, if not stop, the flow of American military aid to Kyiv. The US has been the largest single donor to Ukraine. By far. Europe will struggle to take up the slack.

Trump boasted in the past he could end the war with Russia in a day. What isn’t clear is whether he wants Ukraine to win.

Europe’s leaders, notably UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have repeatedly pledged to stand by Ukraine.

Zelensky will appeal to them on Thursday to stay true to their word.

Things look challenging for Kyiv, to say the least.

Not only is the future of US military aid now insecure, there’s a question mark too over Ukraine’s second largest donor, Germany. Its three-party coalition government crumbled late on Wednesday.

On top of all this, the host of Thursday’s meeting is none other than Hungary’s Trump-enthusiastic Prime Minister, Viktor Orban. He is also well-known for his close ties to Moscow, his reluctance to impose sanctions on Russia, and to provide self-defence weapons to Ukraine.

BBC/Shakirat Sadiq