Czech President explains Europe's loss of influence: "We are weak and divided"

Czech President Petr Pavel
Photo: Reuters

Europe risks losing its influence in global politics if it fails to overcome internal divisions and slow decision-making, Czech President Petr Pavel stated in an interview with Bild's deputy editor-in-chief.

According to the Czech leader, Europe is not perceived against the background of cooperation between the United States and Russia, as European states demonstrate disunity and weakness. Pavel warned that without rapid changes, Europe risks losing its importance in world politics.

Answering the question of why European states remain on the sidelines amid the relations between Washington and Moscow, Pavel linked this to the state of Europe itself:

“They don't take Europe seriously. Because they see how divided we are, how weak we are, how long it takes us to even make decisions. If we don't change this very quickly, we will become irrelevant.”

According to him, the global order is increasingly shifting toward major players. Europe is not yet one of them. Therefore, Pavel questioned its ability to participate in defining new international rules on an equal basis with the leading powers.

He previously called on European countries to take greater responsibility for their own security and reduce their defense dependence on the United States. He believes that European NATO members need to more quickly modernize their militaries and coordinate decisions. This should give the EU the ability to act in the face of shifting political course in Washington.

Pavel's words also contain an inconvenient conclusion for European capitals: economic weight alone is insufficient for real political influence. While governments debate joint action, other states can reach agreement without them.

However, the call for acceleration alone will not resolve the problem of disagreement. To change the situation, European countries will have to agree on costs, obligations, and the limits of each state's autonomy.

He also described Trump's approach to Russia as more favorable than that of any European leader, explaining that the American president looks at the situation solely through the prism of Washington's economic prosperity.

«I don’t know yet whether this can be called a betrayal, but I would call it a mistake», — he said, adding that such a course is clearly contrary to the interests of Europe. At the same time, the Czech president did not rule out that in the future European countries will again begin to purchase Russian oil.

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