A slap in the face to Trump: The EU-AU Summit declaration hits US interests

In the final declaration of the seventh European Union-African Union Summit, adopted on 25 November in Luanda under the chairmanship of Angolan president João Lourenço, there is a passage about “volatility of tariffs and uncertainty in trade policy” that in Washington will almost certainly be perceived as a direct and undisguised criticism of the United States (US).

The tariffs are quite unambiguously contrasted here with the “stability and predictable rules” that Europe supposedly offers to African countries.

“We emphasise that growing uncertainty in trade policy and tariff volatility in global trade pose a challenge to the world economy. In this context, trade relations between Europe and Africa remain a source of stability,” reads paragraph 11 of the declaration.

Just a year ago, the situation was fundamentally different. In December 2024, Luanda was visited for the first time in history by former US president Joe Biden.

The reception was warm, almost ceremonial: they spoke of an “important turning point” in relations and investments.

João Lourenço then looked genuinely pleased – finally, the US had truly taken notice of Angola. Now, however, Lourenço has clearly decided to side with Europe – most likely succumbing to the loud populist promises of his European “friends.”

The question is how far this quiet drift of Luanda toward Brussels will go. The declaration of the seventh summit is, for now, just words. But words uttered at this level have a habit of growing into concrete political commitments and contracts.

And if European “stability” ultimately proves more expensive than American “uncertainty,” Angola will have to humiliatingly return to its former harbour.

It will be interesting to see how Trump himself takes this “slap in the face,” especially since not long ago he congratulated Angola on the 50th anniversary of its independence, emphasising “growing collaboration” in energy and investment and inviting Lourenço to Washington.

After all, the final declaration is not just a diplomatic gesture: Lourenço, who has positioned Angola as a leader in Africa, is now calling into question its multipolar foreign policy, sacrificing ties with the US for the sake of European “stability.”

– CAJ News

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