Europe Responds to the 2020 U.S. Election in the form of a Biden administration, the future success of the European-American relationship is far from guaranteed.
Regional Responses Despite some similarities, the responses across Europe varied between countries and regions. What follows is a country-by-country analysis of the media, political, public, and academic responses to the 2020 U.S. presidential election across twenty-four countries. The history of relations with the U.S. coupled with current domestic political attitudes helped inform these responses, resulting in the diversity and variance seen below.
The Center and East: Ukraine, Poland, and Hungary The responses to the U.S. election from Central and Eastern European countries are marked by a powerful opposing force: Russia. In Ukraine, Poland, and Hungary it is impossible to discuss reactions to and expectations for the next American president without acknowledging the Russian military presence and political influence in the region. These reactions invite questions about EU influence, or lack thereof, in promoting and securing democracy within their own borders and amongst their neighbors. If there is one key takeaway from these responses to the 2020 election, it is that U.S. leadership remains indispensable. UKRAINE
Russia’s 2014 annexation of the region of Crimea is but one example of the precarious situation in which Ukraine finds itself. Bipartisan U.S. support for military aid against Russianbacked separatists is vital for maintaining security within Ukraine, a country marked by deep ethnic and cultural tensions between the East and the West.14 The country was propelled to the forefront of U.S. electoral drama not only as a political pawn but as a stakeholder in the outcome of the election, as the revelation of President Trump’s July 2019 phone call with Ukrainian’s President Volodymyr Zelensky seized the attention of many Americans. The phone call led to allegations of a quid pro quo request and, ultimately, Trump’s first impeachment on charges of
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