Europe’s leaders stand firm in Davos, as CEOs warn against emotional response

DAVOS, Switzerland - European leaders, rattled by Donald Trump’s latest global gambit, are looking to present a united front in Davos - as chief executive officers warned against an emotional response to

the US president’s ambition to take over Greenland.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the European Union should not bend to “the law of the strongest”, adding that it was “crazy” that the bloc was having to contemplate using its “anti-coercion instrument” against the US.

“We do believe that we need more growth, we need more stability in this world, but we do prefer respect to bullies,” Mr Macron told the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, the day before Mr Trump’s arrival in Switzerland.

Without referring directly to Mr Trump, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen highlighted a need to respond to seismic shifts in the world and said the speed and scale of change had driven a consensus in Europe on independence.

“It is time to seize this opportunity and build a new independent Europe,” she said in a speech.

Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever said the 27-member bloc was “at a crossroads”, where it must decide on how to get out of a “very bad position” after trying to appease Mr Trump to get his support for the Ukraine war.

“So we should unite and we should say to Donald Trump... ‘You’re crossing red lines here.’ We either stand together or we will stand divided,” Mr De Wever said on a panel discussion.

Europeans at odds over how to respond to Trump

Mr Trump

announced tariffs on Jan 17

on imports from European allies that oppose the US acquiring Greenland, an autonomous part of Denmark.

European governments, which are facing growing challenges from populist, nationalist parties, have been at odds over

how to respond to the tariff threat

while maintaining US support for Ukraine.

Mr Macron said Europe should not accept a world where might was right and called for bold moves to defend European industries.

“Let’s not be shy. Let’s not be divided. Let’s not accept a global order, which will be divided by those who claim to have the bigger voice,” Mr Macron said.

Mr Macron also appeared to see an opportunity for Europe in Mr Trump’s chaotic policies.

“We have a place where the rule of law and predictability is still the rule of the game, and my guess is that it is under-priced by the market,” he said in his speech.

However, some senior bankers and executives in Davos, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they saw the response from European leaders to Mr Trump’s moves as emotional rather than pragmatic. Two suggested the continent needed to look beyond the way the US president delivers his message and have a negotiation.

“But they won’t even want to have that conversation, because they’re so offended by the style. And so what you have in Europe is a very, very, delicate balance of a continent that cannot move together,” one senior banker told Reuters.

European countries say Mr Trump’s threat of new tariffs would violate a trade deal reached with the US in 2025, and EU leaders are

set to discuss possible retaliation

at an emergency summit in Brussels on Jan 22.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, however, voiced confidence that the US and European countries would find a solution and avoid what some have warned could become a prolonged trade war.

“Why are we jumping there? Why are you taking it to the worst case? ...Calm down the hysteria. Take a deep breath,” he said.

Ukraine push for security guarantees, reconstruction plan

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan 20 that he was ready to join other global leaders in Davos, but only if the US was ready to sign documents on security guarantees for Ukraine and a post-war prosperity plan.

“Ukraine is ready for meetings... if those meetings are actually effective,” he wrote on X.

His comments came as CEOs, including finance industry executives, are expected to meet on Jan 21 to discuss post-war reconstruction, a source familiar with the matter said.

But any decisions were unlikely, the source told Reuters, adding: “You need peace in order to reconstruct the place.”

Mr Zelensky urged the US to pile more pressure on Russia after

its latest massive air attack

on Ukraine cut heating to half of the capital and affected substations the United Nations’ atomic watchdog said are vital for nuclear safety. REUTERS