The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, began on 13 January amid an electric atmosphere between Europeans and Americans, who are on the verge of a falling out over the issue of Greenland. Faced with Trump’s threats to increase customs duties on countries that oppose his annexation of Greenland, Europeans have changed their tone and responded with new firmness. In his speech on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a rejection of the ‘law of the strongest’ imposed by Washington. The next day, in a confused speech punctuated by untruths and insults to Europe, the White House tenant made an unexpected about-face: he announced that he was abandoning his plan to annex Greenland by force, then, after speaking to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, he expressed his desire to pacify transatlantic relations… One thing is certain: the alliance between the ‘old continent’ and the United States will not emerge unscathed from this episode, to the benefit of China and Russia, which have everything to gain from the weakening of the West.
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