Nearly half of Europeans see Donald Trump as “an enemy of Europe”, rather more rate the risk of war with Russia as high and more than two-thirds believe their country would not be able to defend itself in the event of such a war, a survey has found.
The nine-country poll for the Paris-based European affairs debate platform Le Grand Continent also found that nearly three-quarters of respondents wanted their country to stay in the EU, with almost as many saying leaving the union had harmed the UK.
Jean-Yves Dormagen, a political science professor and founder of the polling agency Cluster17, said: “Europe is not only facing growing risks, it is also undergoing a transformation of its historical, geopolitical and political environment. The overall picture [of the survey] portrays a Europe that is anxious, that is deeply aware of its vulnerabilities and that is struggling to project itself positively into the future.”
The polling found that an average of 48% of people across the nine countries see Trump as an outright foe – ranging from highs of 62% in Belgium and 57% in France to lows of 37% in Croatia and 19% in Poland.
Based on policy? Yes. Based on beliefs and values? No. For historical reasons European countries have a stronger welfare state, but that’s mostly inertia. Compared to America Europe is still in its Southern Strategy phase, and given the rapid success of the far right I’d say the nationalism is actually worse, in part due to America having never been an ethnostate. Stuff that either doesn’t find purchase or remains restricted to the right in America sees a lot more popular acceptance in, say, France and Germany. This is the case for anti-immigration sentiment, for example, and don’t get me started on French laicite. The American right being more mature and having had more time to organize* shouldn’t be confused for Americans being more rightwing in their values.
*The modern European far right has only really had ammunition since the 2015 immigration crisis, while in America it dates back to the Civil Rights Act in 1964.