‘Europe saw Trump coming, but isn’t prepared,’ says international law professor

"'Small America' won today and it is going to abandon the world," international law professor Maria Gavouneli tells Kathimerini. 

Gavouneli, who is also director general of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), believes that tough times lie ahead for Europe, arguing that it "saw Trump coming, but is not at all prepared." This is especially so in terms of commerce, she adds, "following the announcement of tariffs for the United States' biggest trading partner, the European Union."

"We should have been united behind a common purpose with a common message: that Europe can be autonomous, that we are not defenseless and that we are ready to benefit from everything that we have created these past 75 years," she says.

Regarding defense, the academic believes that the situation will be "more manageable" than expected in NATO, but also in...