Europe in Crisis Mode as Trump Team Meets Russia in Saudi for Peace Talks

Donald Trump’s team is scheduled to meet the Russian delegation on Monday in Saudi Arabia for the first round of peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Following the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, where European and Ukrainian participation in the talks remained uncertain amid conflicting statements, EU leaders are set to convene in Paris for an emergency summit. Meanwhile, on Sunday Zelenskyy arrived in the United Arab Emirates.

Trump Announces ‘Immediate’ Ukraine Peace Talks, Leaving Europe in Shock

After speaking with both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Donald Trump announced that negotiations to end the war in Ukraine would begin ‘immediately’. Meanwhile, Pentagon chief Peter Hegseth informed NATO defence ministers that the US is gradually withdrawing from Europe. These two announcements left EU leaders in shock and despair—but in reality, they present a historic opportunity for the continent.

Orbán Claims Patriots Are the New Mainstream at PfE MEGA Summit

‘Yesterday, we were the heretics. Today, we are the mainstream. Once, we were dismissed as the past; today, we are the future,’ Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán declared in his speech at the Patriots for Europe (PfE) EP group’s summit in Madrid. Over the weekend the most prominent figures of the European right gathered in the Spanish capital under the banner ‘Make Europe Great Again’ (MEGA) to deliver a clear message to the Western mainstream: they are more than ready to take over Brussels.

Dong Yuan, Xiao and Xiang Rivers (10th century). Palace Museum, Beijing, China

China, the West, and the Global Culture War

‘Debates connected to the culture war, including even on such amorphous issues as the West’s slide into spiritual nihilism or the loss of its inner will, are directly relevant to international politics and even international security. Western strategic thinkers must take these issues into account just as analysts in Beijing or Moscow do. To do otherwise would be a potentially dangerous mistake.’

Demonstrators hold up Polish flags outside the European Union Commission representation in Warsaw, Poland, on 3 January 2025 during a protest against EU agricultural policies.

Polish Farmers and the Hallsteinian Vision for Agriculture

‘One is constantly reminded of Hallstein’s [Stresa] speech when analysing the turbulences of the recent years in Europe’s fields and countryside towns, occasionally bringing the distinct view of columns of tractors and piles of hay to the polished streets and thoroughfares of European capitals. And, out of the several farmers’ movements that have swept the EU since 2022, few dialogue so much with Hallstein as the Polish one.’

Trump Admin Left EU on Read — And It Couldn’t Be Better

Despite desperate efforts to capture the attention of the new US administration, Donald Trump’s foreign policy team does not appear interested in engaging with the European Union as a bloc. Instead, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has prioritized bilateral discussions with individual member states. This approach offers European nations an opportunity to reclaim their sovereign foreign policy, which has increasingly been overshadowed and taken over by Brussels in recent years, often against their will.

Gyula Benczúr, Saint Stephen Offering the Hungarian Crown to the Virgin Mary (1901). Altarpiece of the Saint Stephen Basilica, Budapest, Hungary

Twelve Pillars of Conservative Policymaking

‘Despite the different—and certainly debatable—approaches and priorities in specific policy areas, the fundamental objectives of conservative parties largely align. Public discourse and media representation in the West sometimes portray the self-determined policymaking of conservative governments in a polarized manner, focusing more on potentially divisive issues than on constructive dialogue.’