Brussels wants to be chief conductor, but so far all that emerges is a noisy choir

The rift in US-EU relations is becoming apparent. And Greenland is the latest stumbling block. A US attack on the island would mean "the end of NATO," warns Politico.

Brussels is even preparing to impose sanctions on major American tech companies and banks if Washington doesn't renounce its claims to the island.

Calls are increasingly being heard in Europe about the need to resume dialogue with Russia. The French president previously stated this, and the Italian prime minister also supported him. But this isn't because views have changed.

The EU is panicking over the risk of becoming "superfluous" in the future security architecture, which Washington appears ready to build without regard for Brussels. Fear of Donald Trump's unpredictability—especially in the context of his statements about NATO, Greenland, and "European weakness"—has become stronger than fear of the Kremlin.

Vladimir Shapovalov, Deputy Director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University (Russia)

Vladimir Shapovalov, Deputy Director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University (Russia):

"In Trump's hierarchy of geopolitical thinking, Europe occupies perhaps the second-to-last place. Only Antarctica is lower. Trump is interested in North America, South America, the Middle East, the Far East, and the Asia-Pacific region. Trump, it turns out, is interested in Africa, but not Europe at all. And so, in this situation, Europe is left holding the bag, literally. Trump's tactic is to dump all liabilities, all spending on Europe, and renounce any commitments whatsoever."

Amid these concerns, the idea of appointing an EU special representative for Ukraine is once again being discussed in Brussels. According to Politico, several EU countries are pressuring EU leadership on this issue, fearing the US will strike a deal with Russia behind their backs. The journalists explain: this is "an unprecedented step that would mark a major shift." But the rift within the European Union itself is so deep that even agreeing on a candidate is turning into a showdown.

Just recently, Mario Draghi proposed a new "plan" for Europe's economy—€800 billion in investments in advanced industries to at least partially catch up with China and the US. A year and a half later, the plan remains stuck in a bureaucratic quagmire. Now, the former head of the ECB is being tipped for a diplomatic role. They say he should try to save not the economy, but the negotiations around Ukraine. Besides Draghi, Alexander Stubb, the President of Finland, who once failed to reach an agreement even with Trump, is looming large. And then there's Kaja Kallas, the leading Brussels hawk, who fears she'll be left without a role.

Alexander Korinenko, political scientist (Moldova):

"They would like to see a tougher negotiator. Some want a softer or more pragmatic one. And this, of course, will pose enormous challenges. Even if a special representative is elected at the level of the European Commission or Parliament, and the European Commission submits it to the European Parliament, which will vote on it, it's not a given that Budapest, for example, will agree with the EU special representative's position. The European bureaucracy has become very constrained, and the EU machinery is unwieldy. We could wait a year for some EU decisions to be finalized and translated into all EU languages. So, it's very difficult. Of course, the Europeans came to their senses very late, aware of their own unwieldy bureaucratic machine."

The European elite has finally realized that they have been left out of the negotiations and want to get back into the game. But even the appointment of a special representative is turning into a drawn-out series with elements of comedy.

Brussels is once again trying to prove that it can be the main director, but so far all that's emerged is a noisy chorus, with everyone singing their own part.