Cut ties with MAGA to join – EU to bloc hopefuls

Trump’s movement exerts “pressure” on countries, enlargement chief Marta Kos has claimed EU candidate countries should cut ties US President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement as they conflict with Brussels’ long-term interests, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has said.Speaking at a Centre for European Policy Studies event in Brussels on Tuesday, Kos warned that prospective members should not develop relations with outside powers that could pull them away from the EU.”We should not risk our future members building dependencies on others that run counter to our long-term interest,” she said.Kos singled out Trump’s political movement, saying the Brussels faces “pressure from the West, from the MAGA ideologists who try to persuade us that our European civilization is in decline, that our economy is in decline, and that we don’t have the right democracy.” Her remarks come as the Trump administration has sought closer political and economic ties with nationalist and conservative forces in Europe. Washington’s National Security Strategy, released last year, accused the EU of undermining “political liberty and sovereignty” and pledged to encourage “resistance to Europe’s current...