WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump warned Monday that Europe was heading in “very bad directions,” in a fresh broadside just days after his new security strategy slammed the continent over mass migration.
Trump hit out at a “nasty” $140 million fine by the European Union against tech tycoon Elon Musk’s X social network — while admitting he didn’t know much about it — before widening his attack.
“Look, Europe has to be very careful. (They’re) doing a lot of things. We want to keep Europe Europe,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“Europe is going in some bad directions. It’s very bad, very bad for the people. We don’t want Europe to change so much. They’re going in some very bad directions.”
The Republican’s comments follow criticism in the new US national security strategy released last week of Europe as being over-regulated and facing “civilizational erasure” from migration.
In extraordinary language aimed at close allies, the strategy said Trump’s administration would be “cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations.”
Trump and the Europeans are also increasingly at odds over US plans to end the war in Ukraine, with fears in Europe that Washington aims to force Kyiv into surrendering land to Russia.
The Kremlin welcomed the changes to Trump’s strategy, saying on Saturday it was “largely consistent” with Russia’s vision.
Trump’s position toward Europe echoes that of Musk, the president’s former ally, who has repeatedly aired inflammatory claims about migration in the EU.
Musk said after X was fined for breaking the EU’s digital rules that the bloc should be “abolished.” Brussels dismissed his statements as “completely crazy.”
When asked about the fine, Trump said that “I don’t think it’s right” before clarifying that “Elon has not called me to ask for help on that one” and saying he would get more details later.
Trump says Europe heading in ‘bad directions’
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Trump says Europe heading in ‘bad directions’
- Trump’s strategy critizised Europe as being over-regulated and facing “civilizational erasure” from migration
- The US and the Europeans are also increasingly at odds over US plans to end the war in Ukraine
Greek coast guard search for 15 after migrant boat found adrift
- The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water
ATHENS: Greek coast guard were on Monday searching for 15 people who fell into the water from a migrant boat that was found drifting off the coast of Crete with 17 bodies on board.
The 17 fatalities, all of them men, were discovered on Saturday on the craft, which was taking on water and partially deflated, some 26 nautical miles (48 kilometers) southwest of the island.
Post-mortem examinations were being carried out to determine how they died but Greek public television channel ERT suggested they may have suffered from hypothermia or dehydration.
A Greek coast guard spokeswoman told AFP that two survivors reported that “15 people fell in the water” after the motor cut out on Thursday, then the vessel drifted for two days.
At the time, Crete and much of the rest of Greece was battered by heavy rain and storms.
The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water.
The vessel had 34 people on board and had left the Libyan port of Tobruk on Wednesday, the Greek port authorities said. Most of those who died came from Sudan and Egypt.
It was initially spotted by a Turkish-flagged cargo ship on Saturday, triggering a search that included ships and aircraft from the Greek coast guard and the European Union border agency Frontex.
Migrants have been trying to reach Crete from Libya for the last year, as a way of entering the European Union. But the Mediterranean crossing is perilous.
In Brussels, the EU’s 27 members on Monday backed a significant tightening of immigration policy, including the concept of returning failed asylum-seekers to “return hubs” outside the bloc.
The UN refugee agency said more than 16,770 asylum seekers in the EU have arrived on Crete since the start of the year — more than any other island in the Aegean Sea.
Greece’s conservative government has also toughened its migration policy, suspending asylum claims for three months, particularly those coming to Crete from Libya.
