EU concerned about possible lifting of sanctions against Russia by Trump - FT
Kyiv • UNN
The European Union is analyzing hundreds of Biden's executive orders because of fears that Trump will reverse them after the inauguration. Particular attention is being paid to sanctions against Russia.
The European Union is concerned that United States President-elect Donald Trump may reverse US sanctions against Russia and other measures under President Joe Biden, the Financial Times reports, according to UNN.
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“EU officials are analyzing hundreds of executive orders and sanctions imposed by US President Joe Biden amid concerns that Donald Trump will reverse them, which could upend international relations and trade,” the newspaper writes.
Brussels is reportedly concerned that Trump may try to reverse his predecessor's decisions simply because they were made by Biden, without much thought to the impact of such steps on European allies.
Senior European Commission officials have ordered a review of Biden's executive orders - from sanctions on Russia to trade and cybersecurity - to see which reversals could affect the bloc or undermine its own measures, according to three people briefed on the initiative.
The rush before Trump's inauguration on January 20 underscores the EU's uncertainty about the president-elect's possible actions when he returns to the White House, after threats he has already made against close US allies, the newspaper notes.
“The EU's biggest concern is that Trump will reverse numerous Biden executive orders that have imposed sanctions on Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine since 2022,” the officials said. Representatives of the bloc hope that Trump will keep these sanctions in place to use them as potential leverage in any possible ceasefire talks with Moscow.
A spokesman for Trump's transition team said that the president-elect had received “a resounding mandate to fulfill the promises he made during the campaign and to disrupt the status quo in Washington.
Last summer, the European Commission set up an internal group of senior officials to develop a strategy on the potential consequences of a second Trump presidency and how to contain or respond to them.
This has largely focused on issues such as potential trade conflicts, reduced U.S. support for Ukraine, and a possible shift in Washington's commitment to European defense and security.
Executive decrees are issued only by presidents and can be revoked at any time. Typically, a new president revises existing decrees shortly after taking office. In 2017, Trump canceled the Cuban embargo imposed by his then-predecessor, Barack Obama, and withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement. A year later, he terminated the US participation in the nuclear deal with Iran brokered by the Obama administration.
“The concern is that he will decide to cancel everything just because Biden did,” said one person. - “We need to know how this could affect us.