"World" editorial. The coronavirus has made it possible for Donald Trump to finally realize his dream: to quarantine Europe. By deciding, Thursday, March 12, to close the door of the territory of the United States for a month to people coming from the 26 member countries of the Schengen area, under the pretext of preventing the contamination of his compatriots by what he calls "A foreign virus", the American president has once again betrayed his visceral hostility towards the European Union.
This decision is pitiful in several respects. In its form, first: taken without the slightest consultation with the governments of the countries concerned and implemented within less than forty-eight hours, it has caused chaos in airports, airlines, already heavily laid to the test, consular representations, on stock exchanges and among hundreds of thousands of travelers.
In its scope, then: Ireland and the United Kingdom, undoubtedly rewarded here for Brexit, are excluded from this measure. But, apart from the fact that Donald Trump owns hotel estates with golf courses in these two countries, this exception is not based on any scientific argument; If the progression of the Covid-19 in the United Kingdom seems to be a few days behind France, it is on the same trajectory, and it is in London that Sophie Trudeau, the wife of the Canadian Prime Minister, the has contracted.
Rejection of all solidarity
Finally, in terms of efficiency, closing the borders is a ridiculous attempt to prevent the spread of the virus. According to the WHO, restrictions on the movement of goods and people "Are generally ineffective and risk diverting resources from other tasks". The US president’s contempt for the recommendations of multilateral institutions is, alas, no secret.
Politically, the message thus sent by Mr. Trump is as clear as his jurisdictions are confused. It is a message of nationalism, of the withdrawal of the United States behind its borders, and of the rejection of all solidarity with a continent supposed to be its first ally. A message in line with the doctrine of "America First", whose damage done on transatlantic relations for three years hardly seems to embarrass the president.
This message, however, hardly masks another explanation. The search for a foreign scapegoat to make people forget the internal difficulties is a worn-out process from the populist register. Trump first accused China of creating the coronavirus, then underestimated the threat to his own people. Today, anxious to hide his mismanagement of the epidemic, less than nine months from a presidential election which is much less good for him if the economy is hit hard by the impact of the coronavirus, he found the ideal culprit: the European Union, which has failed to protect itself from China.
The EU has, for the form, denounced this decision "Taken unilaterally and without consultation". With the United States presiding over the G7 this year, it was President Macron who asked Trump on Friday to host a special G7 meeting. This will take place on Monday, by videoconference, to try to coordinate the economic response. But let Europeans have no illusions: it is up to them, and to them alone, to organize together to deal with this terrible crisis.
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