Europe welcomes Biden but will not wait for him

As a politician who sets his eyes on the midterm congressional elections, “Biden will focus like a laser in his first year on the pandemic, on reopening the economy, unemployment, infrastructure, health care, and economic stimulus.” Copchan said. “There will be a lot of time, energy and money for foreign policy.”

Sophia Pisch and Luigi Scateri of the European Reform Center Argue in a new paper That “many Europeans will want to forget that the Trump presidency never happened.” But they add, “Europe cannot continue to look to the United States to answer the key questions about what its interests are and how it should pursue them.”

This is especially true for defense, as most European leaders agree more should be spent.

German Defense Minister Angret Kramp-Karenbauer asserts that Europeans cannot replace America as a provider of security, the way Central and Eastern European leaders do. But others, notably French President Emmanuel Macron and the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell Fontel, argue that Europeans cannot be sure of America’s credibility.

They argue that Biden’s victory should not distract or discourage Europeans from a more independent and more strategic defense goal, even in the context of NATO.

There are certain issues, such as terrorism, instability in North Africa and immigration, where Europeans feel they need to be able to act more effectively on their own.

“The place where we Europeans need to be careful about our expectations of Americans is in our neighborhood,” said Natalie Tucci, director of the Italian Institute of International Affairs. On issues such as Belarus, Ukraine and the Balkans, she said, “Coordination with the United States is important, but we cannot expect the United States to step up its participation.”