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The Trump-Putin Summit: Towards a New World Order?

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia President Vladimir Putin met in Helsinki behind closed doors. The outcomes of the four-hour summit, which were disclosed by the two leaders during a press conference immediately after , hit the headlines both in the U.S. and Europe over the following days.


Both Presidents declared that the Cold War is over. “Constructive dialogue between the United States and Russia affords the opportunity to open new pathways toward peace and stability in our world,” Trump said. Putin announced that a joint business group will be established with the aim to foster trade and investments between the two countries.


Surprisingly, Trump explicitly accepted Russia's denials of interference in the U.S. presidential elections to hinder Hillary Clinton’s candidacy as disclosed by U.S. intelligence agencies (a scandal known as Russiagate). The declaration immediately drew violent criticism both in the U.S. and Europe and was officially walked back by U.S. President the following day, claiming he had misspoken. "The sentence should have been, 'I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia.' Sort of a double negative," the President said. He specified that, while the interference of Russia had no impact on the election outcome, he does accept the conclusions presented by U.S. intelligence officials.


The meeting had been preceded by some controversial declarations by Trump. During a TV interview he defined the EU as one of America's biggest foes, specifically with respect to trade. While the President of the European Council Donald Tusk underplayed the value of Trump’s words, writing on social media that “America and the EU are best friends”, European public opinion and, in particular, a number of German newspapers strongly criticized Trump’s comments. Among others, the German Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote that the U.S. President has “aggravated” transatlantic relations.


U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia President Vladimir Putin at the end of the press conference (Source: SKY TG24)



Over the last few weeks, European media also widely reported on the current migration crisis. The decision by newly appointed Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini to turn away some rescue ships at the beginning of June (see previous article) was followed by many other refusals by Italy and other European countries, which has rekindled the debate over shared responsibilities in the migration crisis at the EU level.


Yesterday, the NGO Proactiva Open Arms reported that the bodies of a drowned woman and toddler had been found in the Mediterranean. The NGO claimed that the Libyan coastguards had deliberately sunk the rescue boat they were on and left them behind after they had refused to board the patrol boats that would have brought them back to North Africa. The NGO published pictures of the two corpses still hanging on the debris of the sunken boat along with a woman who had been rescued after spending a day floating in the sea. “How long will we have to deal with the murderers enrolled by the Italian government to kill”? wrote founder of the NGO Oscar Camps. The Italian government, in collaboration with the government of Malta, has been hindering aid groups from rescuing migrants’ ships either by preventing them from accessing ports or by impounding their boats. This tragic event further exacerbated the public debate over the Italian government's hardline approach towards migration.



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