Around 3,700 miles separate the Gothic towers of Canada’s Parliament in Ottawa from the glass-fronted modern European Parliament building in eastern France.But judging by the thunderous applause shaking the E.U.chamber Thursday, President Donald Trump’s threats are helping to close that distance.Canada and Europe have long been close U.S.
allies, benefiting from American military power and trading heft.But Trump has upended those relationships, waging trade wars against Canada and the E.U., while threatening to absorb Canada as America’s 51st state and take control of Greenland, Denmark’s autonomous Arctic territory.Without a reliable partner in the White House, the spurned allies are now forging their own path.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged the world’s “middle powers” to join forces in a speech before the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday to create “an alliance strong enough so that no one can dictate our choices.” The strategy in short: strength in numbers.“I’m not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great power rival, only with better manners,” he stressed.“We do not seek power to dominate others,” Carney continued.
“On the contrary, we are pursuing resilience.So no one — no one — can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial integrity or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law.”Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Thursday.Jean-Christophe Verhaegen / AFP via Getty ImagesThe remarks appeared aimed in part at Trump, though Carney did not name the president in his speech.
The response in the room was a near-unanimous standing ovation from lawmakers representing the bloc’s 27 member countries.Some European leaders, meanwhile, appear ready to grant Canada more favorable access to its closely guarded single market.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen caused a stir Wednesday when s...