World Insights: From weal to woe, EU discards blind faith in Washington

BRUSSELS, April 27 (Xinhua) -- In a striking and unprecedented response, the EU's executive has recently issued an updated guidance urging America-bound senior officials to take serious precautions against cyber-espionage, reported the Financial Times (FT).

It was only an example of the widening cracks in transatlantic relations in recent months.

In the past few months, moves by the U.S. administration under President Donald Trump, including threatening to take over Greenland, slapping tariffs on European imports, and sidelining the EU in addressing the Russia-Ukraine conflict, shattered decades of U.S. diplomatic norms, leaving European allies rattled and scrambling.

By late April, the European Commission began distributing disposable mobile phones and untraceable laptops to these officials, citing concerns "about the United States getting into the commission systems," the British daily reported.

This marks yet another shift, highlighting the diversion in transatlantic ties from a trusted alliance to a relationship defined by cautious engagement.

SECURITY CAUTIONS FOR U.S. TRIPS

Ahead of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank spring meetings in Washington on April 21-26, EU economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, financial services commissioner Mairead McGuinness, and international partnerships commissioner Jutta Urpilainen were issued burner phones and basic laptops, according to the FT.

Sources told the daily that the precaution aims to avoid the risk of espionage by U.S. agencies.

An EU official said that the commission has recently updated its official guidance for visits to the United States, recommending that phones be switched off at the border and placed in special sleeves to protect them from spying if left unattended.

Though the commission has refrained from confirming specifics about the devices, the move underscores a shift in the EU's perception of the United States -- from a trusted partner to a potential security threat.

Luuk van Middelaar, director of the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics, told the FT that the guidance came as no surprise, describing Washington as "an adversary" prone to employing excessive or unlawful tactics to pursue its own power and interests.

LONG SHADOW OF U.S. SURVEILLANCE

It's nothing new for the United States to spy on its allies. But in the past, the EU, long dependent on a stable and predictable partnership with Washington, was far less reactive to such revelations.

In 2013, Edward Snowden exposed the PRISM program that the National Security Agency (NSA) spied on a number of foreign leaders, including then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The scandal prompted Merkel to remark, "Spying among friends, that's just not done."

Yet the incident ended with little resolution. In 2015, German prosecutors quietly dropped their investigation into the alleged tapping of Merkel's phone, citing insufficient evidence and a lack of cooperation from the United States, which appeared unfazed by the backlash.

WikiLeaks' 2015 disclosures that the NSA had monitored three previous French presidents provoked protests in France, but critics argued the outrage from French leaders was largely performative, driven by concerns over jeopardizing strategic cooperation with the United States.

From PRISM to the Equation Group and ECHELON, to the 24/7 surveillance of cellphones and computers around the globe, the sheer scale of U.S. espionage underscores a reality Edward Snowden once warned of. Quoted by The Critic, he said the Five Eyes alliance had "inflicted upon the world a system of secret, pervasive surveillance from which there is no refuge."

ERODING TRANSATLANTIC TRUST

The EU's heightened security posture came amid rising tensions with the United States, which has clashed with the bloc on multiple fronts, including defense, trade and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, since Trump took office in January.

Trump reignited longstanding frictions by threatening to withdraw from NATO's collective defense obligations unless EU member states raised their military spending to 5 percent of GDP. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went further, branding the continent "pathetic" and accusing it of "freeloading" on U.S. defense commitments.

On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Trump favored direct dealings with Moscow, marginalizing the EU's role in diplomatic negotiations. Meanwhile, his aggressive tariff agenda provoked widespread outrage across Europe. Trump dismissed EU proposals for mutual tariff elimination and labeled the bloc as "one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World."

In response, the EU is steadily shaping a trade framework that operates outside the shadow of the United States. In recent months, the bloc has advanced or finalized trade agreements with the South American trade bloc Mercosur, the United Arab Emirates and Canada, in clear steps toward diversifying its economic partnerships.

Moreover, Europe's decision to no longer take longstanding U.S. surveillance for granted is a powerful indication of eroding trust between Washington and Brussels.

"Europe can't trust the U.S. anymore," lamented The Atlantic in a recent piece, echoing the stark assessment of an EU official who declared bluntly that "the transatlantic alliance is over." ■