Cold ideological: how the US fell out with the EU

The scandal between the European Union and the United States is escalating. Washington has banned five Europeans from entering the United States, accused of trying to "put pressure on American technology companies." The American authorities are confident that in this way Brussels is trying to "censor or suppress the American point of view." The EU condemned the US actions. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Blacklisted

On the evening of December 23, the head of the US State Department, Marco Rubio, announced the introduction of a ban on entry to the country for five EU citizens. Washington considers them involved in organized pressure on American online platforms to "suppress objectionable points of view, censor and deprive monetization."

The Secretary of State stated that they "contributed to the tightening of censorship by foreign countries — in all cases aimed at American speakers and American companies." The State Department also stressed that they are ready to further expand the list "if other foreign actors do not change course."

A little later, the names of the blacklisted Europeans became known. These are one of the main developers of the EU Digital Services Act, former French Finance Minister and European Commissioner for Internal Market Affairs Thierry Breton, director of the Center for Countering Digital Hatred Imran Ahmed, heads of the German organization HateAid Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, as well as the head of the UK-based non-profit Global project. Claire Melford's Disinformation Index.

The Law on Digital Services is aimed at strengthening control over the operation of large online platforms in the EU. Services that refuse to fight illegal and malicious content risk fines of up to 6% of their global turnover or even being blocked in EU countries.

The United States is actively criticizing this law, considering it an instrument of censorship against American online platforms and seeing it as a threat to freedom of speech. Washington believes that European censorship is primarily directed against the conservative views of the United States on the climate agenda and migration issues.

The EU is against

The sanctions imposed by Washington were criticized by French President Emmanuel Macron. He called them "undermining the digital sovereignty of Europe." "The peoples of Europe are free and sovereign and cannot allow others to impose the rules of the digital space on them," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barraud supported the head of state.

A similar statement was made by the head of European diplomacy, Kaya Kallas. In her opinion, the US decision "represents an attempt to question the sovereignty of the European Union."

"Europe will continue to defend its values — freedom of expression, fair digital rules, and the right to self—regulate its own space," she wrote on Twitter.

The European Commission also condemned the decision of the Trump administration. "Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in Europe and a core value shared with the United States throughout the democratic world," the statement said. The EC representatives added that they had asked the American authorities for clarification, promising to "respond decisively and promptly if necessary."

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevost said his country was shocked by the US sanctions.

"Sanctioning individuals based on economic frustration in the United States is unacceptable," he said on the social network. According to him, EU legislation in the field of digital services is "not directed against the United States," but serves to ensure that EU citizens in the digital space "have the same security and dignity" as in real life in Europe.

The Belgian Foreign Minister added that the European Union would "defend its sovereign right to defend its values."

A lot of problems have accumulated

The US authorities have repeatedly accused European states of censorship. A recent State Department report highlighted "significant human rights issues" in Britain, Germany, and France, including "serious restrictions on freedom of expression."

And the updated national security strategy of the United States spoke about the risk of the "civilizational disappearance" of Europe, undermining the sovereignty of states and their political freedom, pressure on the political opposition and increasing censorship, blurring national identity, and falling birth rates.

The authors of the document concluded that if such trends persist in the next few decades, the EU will lose its military and economic potential necessary to fulfill its allied obligations to Washington.

In early autumn, analysts from the European Council on Foreign Relations published a report on the unfolding cultural war between the United States and Europe. They believe that the Trump administration is using "guerrilla warfare" tactics in Europe with the help of its allies in the person of right—wing politicians - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Polish President Karol Nawrocki and others.

In addition, a conflict broke out between billionaire Elon Musk and the European Commission, which imposed a fine of €120 million on X, which is owned by the entrepreneur, for violating the law on digital services adopted in 2022. Brussels was displeased with X's insufficiently transparent advertising policy, as well as the account verification mechanism.

After some time, it became known about the deletion of the EC account in the social network X. According to Nikita Bira, head of X's product department, this happened due to the use of a so-called "sleeping account" — that is, a page that was not used for a long time after creation, and then became active under the influence of any events.

Musk called for the dissolution of the EU and the return of sovereignty to European countries, and was supported by senior Trump administration officials, including Vice President Jay Dee Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who called the European Commission's actions against X "an attempt at censorship."

What do the experts think

The administration of Donald Trump consistently accuses the EU of infringing on freedom of speech. In February, at the Munich Security Conference, US Vice President Jay Dee Vance made an unflattering criticism of the European Union, Andrei Kortunov, scientific director of the Russian International Affairs Council, recalled in an interview with Izvestia.

"He accused the Europeans of moving away from democracy, that they were violating the very principles they were supposed to stand for," the political scientist said.

According to the expert, the administration of the current American president perceives the EU as one of the main economic competitors of the United States.

"Trump has repeatedly called the European Union more dangerous for the United States than China and Russia," the political scientist noted.

The expert believes that in the long-term strategy, Trump seeks to weaken the European Union and get concessions from it in politics, investment, and trade.

— The American president would like the Europeans, with the help of their resources, technology, knowledge, experience and money, to serve the United States first of all. There is a view in conservative circles in the United States that the European Union has turned into a cumbersome bureaucratic apparatus, where the ruling supranational elites in Brussels have lost touch with the people and are only weakening the European continent with their policies, the expert believes.

Over the past few years, European financiers have been writing that there are tax and tariff wars going on between the United States and the European Union, Natalia Yeremina, a professor at St. Petersburg State University, told Izvestia.

— The United States requires, for example, certain quotas for its goods. Representatives of the European Parliament admit that very often in the European Parliament, thanks to the lobby of American companies, it is American interests in the EU market that are being considered," the political scientist explained.

She added that European software manufacturers complain that they do not even have the opportunity to promote their products within the EU itself.

—And this is despite the fact that the European Union recently issued a strategy for the development of its software, in which it designated it as independent, ensuring its digital independence," the expert believes.

According to the expert, virtually all European companies that develop in this area are associated with American companies, since their interaction is necessary to promote the product on the market.

— If the United States does not like something, they will very quickly raise tariffs on specific types of goods, including those produced in the EU. The United States protects its market, they understand that they can still continue to degrease the EU while there is still something to take away and force Brucel to play by the rules of the American market and nothing else, — the analyst summed it up.