【Wen / Observers Network, Ruan Jiaqi】

Abducting Maduro, demanding Greenland... Trump's two major outbursts at the beginning of the year have put the European far-right camp, which originally shared similar ideologies with him, into an unprecedentedly awkward situation.

According to Bloomberg on the 17th, European far-right parties are now re-examining and distancing themselves from Trump. Although these parties share similar stances with Trump's administration on issues such as immigration, their recent radical foreign policies are seen as a violation of international law and national sovereignty.

According to reports from "Politico.eu", for a long time, Germany's far-right party "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) has been striving to establish close ties with the Trump administration in search of powerful international allies to break its domestic political isolation. However, as German public opinion increasingly resents Trump and his foreign interventionism, the leadership of the AfD has had to adjust its strategy and deliberately keep a distance from this once strongly supported U.S. president.

It was reported that during an event this week, co-chair of the AfD, Alice Weidel, stated that Trump's violation of international law in Venezuela, as well as his similar approach toward Greenland, is no different from the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Trump has violated his core campaign promises, which were not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries," she emphasized. She also said that this U.S. president must account to American voters for his actions before the upcoming mid-term elections.

Weidel also said that a series of recent events have proven that neither international law nor organizations like NATO are worth trusting anymore.

Photo: Weidel speaking at the AfD party congress in 2024. Visual China

According to "politico.eu", multiple surveys show that the majority of Germans strongly oppose Trump's remarks on the Greenland issue and his actions in Venezuela. A survey released by the German authority "ARD-DeutschlandTrend" last week showed that only 12% of Germans have a positive evaluation of Trump's performance, while the number of people who consider the U.S. a reliable partner is as low as 15%, a record low.

The report pointed out that Trump's negative image has forced the leadership of the AfD into an awkward balancing act, where they need to criticize the U.S. president to align with domestic public opinion, yet cannot damage the considerable efforts the party has made to build connections with Trump and the Republicans.

After all, members of the AfD have been lobbying the Trump administration to prevent the German authorities from initiating a ban procedure against the party; and indeed, U.S. officials have pressured the German Foreign Ministry to refrain from banning the AfD.

That's why, at the same event, Tino Chrupalla, another leader of the AfD standing beside Weidel, expressed contradictory views: he criticized Trump's "wild west-style crude methods," yet also tried to defend Trump, saying that he was merely pursuing American interests within his own "sphere of influence."

He said, "Such 'wild west-style crude methods' should be abandoned, and even if the purpose is legitimate, it doesn't justify any means."

Even Weidel, who criticized Trump, mixed her words with praise, holding up Trump's pursuit of American national interests as a model. She claimed that the German government should learn from this, putting national interests above other considerations.

"Trump's recent actions are all based on geopolitical strategies," Weidel said, "I hope to see the German federal government finally develop policies that serve the German people and align with German interests."

However, the report also noted that even this level of mild dissatisfaction is rare in the AfD leadership's previous statements.

Compared to the AfD's wavering stance, the French far-right has been more sharply critical of Trump. This is directly related to Trump's very low support rate in France.

According to reports, although the French far-right party National Rally shares similar positions with Trump on issues like immigration and tough enforcement, due to concerns over US-EU tariff disputes, the party has always been cautious about getting too close to this flamboyant president. The party previously declined U.S. support for Le Pen to run in the 2027 French election.

Unlike President Macron's moderate condemnation, Jordan Bardella, chairman of the National Rally, openly criticized on Monday, stating that the U.S. military arrest of Maduro was "a return to imperial ambitions," indicating the world would return to an era where "the law of the strongest trumps respect for international rules."

"President Trump himself admitted that this military intervention was paving the way for the economic interests of American oil companies," Bardella also pointed out, adding that Trump's threat to seize Greenland was "a direct provocation of the sovereignty of a European country."

Photo: Le Pen (left) and Bardella holding a rally in Paris on April 6, 2025. Visual China

In Slovakia, the third-ranking far-right party "Movement for the Republic," whose leader Milan Uhrik has joined the criticism, also condemned Trump's actions in Venezuela for violating international law.

"Have you ever seen a country sending special forces to kidnap the president of another country?" Uhrik asked during a television interview last week. "What would the world look like if international disputes were resolved this way?"

Interestingly, the new U.S. national security strategy released last month, which fundamentally rejects the current development path of Europe and praises the far-right movement, has not only triggered collective condemnation from European allies but has also been criticized as "a real far-right propaganda booklet."

In the document, continental Europe is portrayed as a region where economic decline is secondary, with a more serious reality being the impending disappearance of civilization. The root cause of this so-called "civilization disappearance" is attributed to the dual problems of high levels of immigration and long-term low birth rates.

The document also blames European officials for hindering the U.S. efforts to end the war in Ukraine, accusing European governments of ignoring what they call "the majority of European people's peace demands."

The document even directly challenges the EU, claiming that the U.S. should cultivate forces in European countries that resist the current development trajectory of Europe. It also praises the growing political influence of right-wing populist parties in Europe, suggesting that if such parties gain power in multiple EU countries, they could pose a threat to the future of the EU.

The document claims, "U.S. diplomacy should continue to safeguard true democracy, freedom of speech, and a firm promotion of the unique national characteristics and history of European countries." It further states that the U.S. encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this spirit of revival, and the increasing influence of patriotic parties in Europe undoubtedly brings great optimism for the future.

Following Vice President Vance's open ridicule of Europe at the Munich conference, this strategic document has caused another uproar across the Atlantic, with EU officials expressing their inability to accept American threats to intervene in European politics.

Meanwhile, the recent unhidden ambitions of the Trump administration to annex Greenland have further exacerbated tensions between the U.S. and NATO allies.

To prove that Europe is capable of self-defense, several European countries have recently announced large-scale troop deployments to Greenland to demonstrate "solidarity." However, upon closer inspection, the current deployment sizes are small: two each from Finland and Norway, one from the UK, thirteen from Germany, fifteen from France...

This scale obviously does not impress the U.S. On January 15 local time, White House Press Secretary Levitt stated that the U.S. is aware of the European countries' troop deployment plans, but "it will not affect" the U.S. decision-making objectives regarding Greenland.

"I think the European forces will not affect the president's decision-making process," Levitt answered when asked whether the European troop deployment would affect Trump's considerations, and added that this "will not affect his goal of acquiring Greenland."

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Original: toutiao.com/article/7596341634028143146/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author.