"Krone" commentary

Trump’s hatred was not directed at Selensky, but at Europe

Comments on and analyzes the current political situation: deputy editor-in-chief of "Krone" Rainer Nowak

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Reinhard Holl)

The Oval Office attack by Donald Trump and his pit bull terrier was not just aimed at Zelensky, but at Europe. It has a simple choice: either accept its fate as an American-Russian colony or fight its way back to European military powers. This means massive rearmament, the end of transatlantic hypocrisy and a farewell to orchid themes.

The scenes would have been too primitive and banal for Hollywood, but Donald Trump had obviously planned, rehearsed and acted them out with relish: Ukrainian President Volodyjammmyr Selenskyj was humiliated in a diplomatically hitherto unthinkable manner. He was paraded like no other head of state in the post-war period. His polite and substantive resistance was futile; he was to be politically humiliated by his hosts in front of the cameras.

Anyone who has ever been to one of Donald Trump's so-called "press pool sprays" in the small Oval Office knows that the scene with chaotically shouting and jostling journalists is an imposition for any "guest of state" due to the hectic pace and supposed spontaneity. If the US President then discards his role as host and instead insults and belittles, the guest would have to get up and leave. Selenskyj could not, he remained seated, tried to resist and went down. Trump's Vice President J.D. Vance gave the eager pit bull terrier and bit/yelped from the side. You know from schoolyard brawls: Some pipsqueak kicks on the side of the superior attackers in the majority.

The attack was aimed at Selenskyj, who had obviously not expected such a humiliating act. However, Trump's hatred was not only directed at his old ally Joe Biden, but also at Europe. In other words, the EU, all its member states, its Commission President, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. It was the end of the transatlantic partnership and a turning point. Ukraine and Europe stand alone on one side. Three major powers, the USA, Russia and China, are on the other side of the Ukraine issue.

Alice Weidel appeared on the podcast with Trump confidant Elon Musk.

(Bild: KAY NIETFELD)

Orbán, Kickl and Weidel as lapdogs
NATO may also be coming to an end. Understanding this, or at least assuming it at the moment, could help Europe survive this global political conflict as a whole. Anyone who believes that Europe can continue to muddle along in Austrian style is very much mistaken. Those who cheer on Trump like Viktor Orbán or the FPÖ see Europe's future as a submissive colony of Trump's USA or Putin's Russia. If Vance is the pit bull terrier, Orbán, Herbert Kickl and Alice Weidel want to be Trump's little lapdogs. You can want to be, but you don't have to be as an independent European.

What should Europe do now? After the long wake-up process and hangover thanks to the party decades in which defense was financed and supplied by the US and cheap energy by Russia, Europe must now seriously become a military and economic power again. This can only work with a rapid rapprochement with and from the UK: Without its nuclear weapons and military, the EU has even less chance of being taken seriously.

Viktor Orbán shakes hands with Putin ...

(Bild: Valeriy Sharifulin)

... as well as US President Donald Trump.

(Bild: Evan Vucci)

Ursula von der Leyen should step down in the face of the new geopolitical emergency and make way for a real politician or reflect on her past as defense minister. The EU clown act with the Green Deal and supply chain morality must end immediately. Unless you want to remain the favorite cabaret program for Trump and Putin. A massive rearmament in Europe is the order of the day, and the billions for this must of course be exempted from the deficit rules. The arms industry must be relieved of the ESG madness immediately. Or be interpreted positively for the goal of peacekeeping.

Yes, that sounds like a war economy, you can call it something else: How about Peace Deal? Incidentally, this also means that the entire industry in Europe is supported and tax relief is provided in order to get the European economy moving again.

If you want to know how ridiculously "well" the future Austrian government will fit into the existing European lemming force, read the new government program. In the childish poetry album chapter "Austria and the world" it literally says: "Austria remains a pioneer in disarmament. Especially in promoting the global ban on nuclear weapons and the international regulation of autonomous weapons systems."

You can't make this stuff up.