Conservative perspectives on Atlantic integration

A conservative columnist contends that the proposed US-EU free trade agreement is likely to serve US geopolitical interests and may not be in line with the wishes of Europeans. A moderate commentator believes that the US is bent on increasing its formal and informal influence in Eastern Europe in order to weaken illiberal regimes which challenge its hegemony.

In Magyar Nemzet, László Gábor cautions against uncritical support for the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The conservative columnist is somewhat skeptical about whether free trade between the US and the EU would actually benefit both sides, as suggested by optimists who claim that a free trade agreement would further strengthen the combined global influence of the parties involved. Gábor suggests that the success of such cooperation is rather an example of wish-fulfillment, than an evidence-based projection. As for its democratic legitimacy, Gábor doubts whether citizens of the EU and the US welcome the trade agreement, and suggests that without their support it can only be introduced undemocratically. In conclusion, Gábor hints that the renewed US interest in the TIPP is the result of Washington’s intention to secure its sphere of influence in an era marked by cold-war-like relations with Russia.

The US government seems to have realized that its hegemony is being contested in Eastern Europe, Gellért Rajcsányi writes in Heti Válasz. As illiberal powers “from the Baltic to the Black Sea” are becoming stronger and stronger, the US is likely to react by increasing its formal and informal influence in the region in defence of its ideological hegemony and geopolitical interests, the moderate pundit predicts.

Tags: EU, foreign affairs, Russia, US