American allies and enemies are welcoming the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and bidding farewell to President Donald Trump, who on Wednesday will go to Florida and refuse to attend his successor’s inauguration ceremony in Washington, DC
Opponents and partners expect Biden to be more predictable than his predecessor, easier to work with and easier to read. Biden promised to revive multilateralism and repair the damage done by Trump to traditional American alliances; Good news in Canada and Europe, which faced harsh criticism from the outgoing government.
Germany was Trump’s favorite target, the president classifying Europe’s most powerful nation as “delinquent” in military spending, selfish in trade, and his icy relationship with Chancellor Angela Merkel is well documented.
After her election, Merkel spoke to Biden and “expressed the desire for close and confident cooperation in the future”.
On Wednesday, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said it was a “good day for democracy”. The position is largely ceremonial in Germany’s federal parliamentary republic, but Steinmeier said he is “very relieved that Joe Biden will be sworn in as president today and move on to the White House”.
He added: “I know that feeling is shared by many people in Germany,” and said the US system has endured “major tests” and “hostility” during Trump’s four years. Biden’s tenure, he said, brings “the hope that the international community will be able to work more closely and better in the future to solve the great problems of our time”.
Steinmeier said his country expects “to know that we have the US at our side again as an indispensable partner” on issues such as “the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, security issues, arms control and disarmament, and many urgent conflicts across the globe. world. “
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson – criticized at home for approaching the Trump administration in hopes of a post-Brexit trade deal – said on Wednesday: “I warmly congratulate Joe Biden on his historic inauguration as the 46th president of the United States and I am looking forward to working with his new government as we defeat Covid and recover better from the pandemic
Johnson said his government would work “side by side” with the next government to address a number of issues.
French President Emmanuel Macron had several clashes with Trump during his tenure, despite the initial heat between the two. Liberal globalist, Macron had little time for Trump’s nationalist populism. On Tuesday, Macron said he hoped the Biden government would retain the foreign military positions that Trump has so often criticized.
“I am sure that, in the coming weeks, the new government will need to make important decisions that will mark a greater commitment and awareness in the fight against terrorism,” he said, particularly the ongoing violence in Syria and Iraq.
NATO was another target for Trump, with the president repeatedly – and incorrectly – claiming that the United States was being “robbed” by its allies in assuming most of the alliance’s military commitments.
He was more justified in his complaints that the majority of members have not yet reached the military spending target of 2% of GDP – although they have until 2024 for that – and allegedly considered withdrawing the US from the pact several times.
NATO officials and member countries have largely resorted to appeasing Trump on these issues, although Macron has been outspoken in rejecting Trump’s credit claim for increased military spending on the alliance. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has repeatedly praised Trump for his commitment to NATO and his pressure on other countries to fulfill his military commitments.
On Tuesday, Stoltenberg tweeted that he was having dinner with European Council President Charles Michel and European Union foreign chief Josep Borrell. “We look forward to working with President-elect @JoeBiden to further strengthen ties between the # United States and #Europe, as we face global challenges that none of us can face alone,” wrote Stoltenberg.
EU leaders will be pleased to see the back of Trump, who said the bloc was “like China, only minor” in one of its many takedowns against European trade practices.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told European politicians on Wednesday: “This new dawn in America is the moment we have been waiting for so long”, describing Biden’s tenure as “overwhelming proof that, yet another after four long years, Europe has a friend in the White House. “
“The United States is back and Europe is ready to reconnect with an old and reliable partner to breathe new life into our beloved alliance,” she added.
Michel said that transatlantic ties “have suffered a lot in the past four years”, adding: “In these years, the world has become more complex, less stable and less predictable”.
Michel said that the differences between the US and the EU “will not magically disappear” and warned: “America seems to have changed, and as it is seen in Europe and the rest of the world it has also changed”.
America’s enemies also celebrated the last day of Trump’s presidency. In Iran – where the regime has survived increasingly harsh sanctions, murders, sabotage and diplomatic isolation – President Hassan Rouhani labeled Trump a “tyrant” and celebrated the “end of this man’s political life”.
In China, state media focused on the cracks that Trump exposed in American democracy. Global Times Editor Hu Xijin responded to recent American criticism of Beijing’s human rights abuses in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. “Your democracy at home desperately needs reinforcements,” wrote Hu.
China Daily He wrote: “No matter how historians finally judge his presidency, Joe Biden’s inauguration as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday will have a place in US history simply because it marks an end.
“The government’s quest for its dreams of making America great again has proved to be nothing more than a disastrous ego trip,” added the newspaper.
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said the Kremlin was not making special preparations for the new government. “Nothing will change for Russia,” said Dmitry Peskov. “Russia will continue to live the way it has lived for many hundreds of years, seeking good relations with the United States.”
Peskov added: “If there is corresponding political reciprocity, it will depend on Biden and his team.”
MANDEL NGAN / AFP via Getty Images / Getty