Trump’s Friends in Europe Welcome Return of a Kindred Spirit
Eastern Europe embraced Trump the first time. Now many of the region’s leaders are relishing the return of a man they want to do business with.
A large banner in Bucharest on Nov. 6 reads “Republicans for Freedom.”
Photographer: Vadim Ghirda/APHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban drank vodka to celebrate. Lawmakers from Poland’s biggest opposition party stood up in parliament and chanted his name. The Bosnian Serb leader, sanctioned by the US for corruption, hosted a cocktail party in his presidential palace.
The return of Donald Trump as American president has been welcomed in some quarters and raised concerns in others. In Europe, the contrast is between the guarded reception to his election victory in many Western capitals versus the reaction in the east, home to some of his staunchest supporters.