European Union future at stake
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BRUSSELS (APP) - The European Union's founders believed its unity would be forged in crisis, but after Brexit and the election of Donald Trump to the White House the bloc looks shakier than ever.
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On Sunday, foreign ministers from the 28 EU countries will hold talks in Brussels on the impact of a president who has previously questioned the decades-old transatlantic pact to defend the continent.
With populists on the rise, Russia posing an increasingly menacing presence to the east, the migration crisis and the endless fallout from the eurozone debt crash, many fear perpetual turmoil.
EU President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday that the events of 2016 were a "warning sign for all who believe in liberal democracy", and urged Europe to "finally get our act together".
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But Trump's election has made it harder to regroup, given that Europe -- while trying to stay pragmatic in dealing with Washington -- has no idea what to really expect from the billionaire.
And European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker is worried that a lot of time could be wasted teaching Trump about Europe.
"Mr. Trump, during his campaign, said that Belgium was a village somewhere in Europe," Juncker told students in Luxembourg on Friday.
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"We must teach the president-elect what Europe is and how it works," he said. "I believe we'll have two years of wasted time while Mr Trump tours a world he doesn't know."
