Luxembourg, December 10: Former European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker looked back at his relationship with re-elected US president Donald Trump in an interview with dpa.
"You should treat Trump with respect and take what he says seriously and conduct substantive negotiations with him," he said.
"Not everything Trump puts forward is automatically topsy-turvy." Juncker, who turned 70 on Monday, served as European Commission president from 2014 until 2019 and as Luxembourg's prime minister between 1995 and 2013.
When trade tensions between the European Union and the United States heightened during his tenure as commission president, the two politicians "found an understanding" which helped avoid further escalations, Juncker said.
At the time, Trump had just raised tariffs on aluminium from the EU, complained about car imports and threatened a trade war. Juncker offered Trump increased imports of liquid gas and soya beans.
To the surprise of observers, the threat of a trade war was averted and Trump shared a picture of the two embracing in the Oval Office on social media. Trump is "not the kind of man who concludes big agreements - he prefers a deal." Turning to the bloc, Juncker said that the EU was not in a real crisis, but more people were favouring national positions over European ones and governments were less interested in the EU.
The increasing role of social media is leading to "a flattening of political debates in Europe," he said.
Source: Qatar Tribune
