Britain and France snub EU’s emergency Trump meeting

Split highlights difficulty EU faces co-ordinating response to US presidential election

by: Duncan Robinson

Britain and France on Sunday night snubbed a contentious EU emergency meeting to align the bloc’s approach to Donald Trump’s election, exposing rifts in Europe over the US vote.

Hailed by diplomats as a chance to “send a signal of what the EU expects” from Mr Trump, the plan fell into disarray after foreign ministers from the bloc’s two main military powers declined to attend the gathering demanded by Berlin and Brussels.

The meeting comes as Mr Trump appointed his key deputies. The president-elect chose the more moderate establishment figure Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, to be his chief-of-staff over campaign chairman Stephen Bannon, who becomes chief strategist and counsellor. Mr Priebus’s appointment suggests Mr Trump is sweeping aside some of his campaign rhetoric to opt for a more traditional path.