Europe is a "good helper" of the United States, but now, the EU itself is in crisis, and the two "leaders" Germany and France have had a bad start to the year. What is more serious is that once Trump returns to power, the United States will inevitably impose a new "heavy blow" on the European Union.
Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Education Minister Atal as the prime minister of the government, and the 34-year-old Attar has become France's youngest prime minister to date. The outside world believes that the reorganization of the government in France is the inevitable result of social unrest caused by pension and other issues.
France's new Prime Minister Attar (right) and former Prime Minister Bornet (left) transition their positions
Specifically, in 2023, the issue of pensions and immigration in France has sparked huge controversy, and many large-scale popular protests have erupted in France. Bornet, the prime minister of the government at the time, became the object of great resentment among the people because it was directly related to pension and other issues.
Originally, after Macron was re-elected in 2022, he lost the seat advantage in the National Assembly, and the damaged image of Borne, and the political controversy it caused are likely to pull down Macron's approval rating and political prestige.
Therefore, Macron hopes to eliminate these negative effects by changing the prime minister, and the new face of Atal can, to a certain extent, breathe a breath of fresh air into Macron's governing career.
However, the fact that Attar replaced Borne does not mean that the situation can be fundamentally changed. France is now facing multiple dilemmas, with a persistent economic slump, high inflation, and growing separatism, which cannot be solved by changing the prime minister.
Moreover, if Macron cannot save the decline of France's economic recession, then the ensuing social unrest will be even more serious.
In fact, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Macron can be described as sympathetic. The German government's removal of agricultural policies such as diesel tax incentives has sparked strong discontent among farmers and transportation workers across the country, and protests have erupted. The team of tractors formed by German farmers paralyzed traffic in cities such as Munich and Berlin, and brought transportation logistics such as trains to a standstill.
With such a large-scale protest, the anger of the German people against the federal government can be seen. Scholz can hardly be called a popular leader.
German farmers blocked roads to protest the government's abolition of agricultural subsidies
According to the latest polls, more than 60% of Germans do not want Scholz to remain chancellor. The root cause of all this is that the Scholz government followed the United States in sanctioning Russia, which caused a serious energy crisis in Germany, which exacerbated the level of inflation. In this sense, the people's personal feelings are the strongest.
An important indication of the German economic recession is that the German federal government has allocated almost 40% less to its budget for natural disasters. On a deeper level, popular anger reflects the unpopularity of the three parties in Germany's current ruling coalition. In the midst of the surging public opinion, a new political party was born in Germany. It is foreseeable that the new party will deliberately pander to public opinion and push Germany in the direction of populism.
The two "leaders" of the EU had a bad start to the year, which is actually a portrayal of the EU's many crises.
On the one hand, the strength of the EU's member states is uneven, and Germany and France have long played the role of the locomotive of the EU, but both Germany and France are too busy to impose additional subsidies on the EU, both politically and economically.
In this case, the cohesion of the EU will be shaken. If some member states do not reap the benefits of the EU, they may have the idea of "leaving the EU" like the UK.
Europe's far-right parties are on the rise to gain the upper hand
On the other hand, the EU is planning to allow more countries to join the EU, but the economic strength of these countries is not good in the first place, and if they join the EU, it will weaken the EU's overall economic strength.
Not only that, but the stronger countries in the EU have to make more "contributions" to "alleviate poverty", which has become a difficult problem for Germany and France. Germany and France are already mired in recession, and how to support the EU is full of uncertainty.
What's more, the EU has bigger challenges ahead. The next US presidential election could even become a key node in determining the fate of the European Union.
If Trump comes to power, the "America First" policy may be more extreme than before, and US-EU relations will inevitably begin to deteriorate again.
Moreover, Trump will directly give Europe's far-right populist parties more room for survival and development, so that the far-right will further dominate the political spectrum in Europe when the traditional European establishment gradually loses popular support, and European integration will become "European fragmentation".
In general, Europe is facing great challenges now and in the future, and at this time, it is the most important thing to take care of yourself and manage yourself.