The European Union wants to bolster the global role of the euro as part of an effort to avoid being pushed around by President Donald Trump, whose foreign policy actions are increasingly at odds with its trans-Atlantic partner, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said, Bloomberg reports.
It’s the latest sign that European leaders are seeking to establish greater autonomy in the face of Trump’s efforts to remake the global order. Since winning the White House, the American president has questioned the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, pulled out of a nuclear accord with Iran and said, in the midst of a trade war, that the EU was a “foe” of the U.S.
“We have to find a way to get around the American threats,” Borrell said in an interview at his offices in Madrid this week. “It’s another way to get around sanctions,” he said, referring to Trump’s May decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal, which the EU lobbied him to preserve.
