So Trump ended up at the center of Pope’s funeral

The Peter’s Church in Rome is filled on Saturday with dignitaries from all over the world who want to take a final farewell to Pope Francis, who fell asleep earlier this week.

However, many eyes will be directed as much at the deceased Pope as one of the guests.

With Donald Trump present in the church, a lot points to the funeral being transformed into an arena for big politics and diplomacy.

For the European Commission Chairman Ursula von der Leyen means Saturday’s gathering, namely a rare opportunity to get to a meeting with the US president. Although it has almost been 100 days since the power shift in the White House, he and she has not yet met.

Ursula von der Leyen has repeatedly tried to get a conversation with Donald Trump, but has so far been called.

Trump never has Hymled that he does not see the EU as a legitimate interlocutor and that he considers Ursula von der Leyen as a non-folk-elected bureaucrat.

(President of the European Commission is appointed in a closed process in which EU heads of state and government settle for the nomination. Thereafter, the elected European Parliament may vote to approve her).

Since Donald Trump took office, a number of foreign leaders have been invited to the Oval Room. But the invitations have been very selective and, above all, went to those who Trump himself has respect for. Among the EU countries, only Italy’s Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and France’s President Emmanuel Macron have so far been given a visit.

Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre was there on Thursday, but Norway is not a member of the EU either.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb recently played golf with his American counterpart, but had to settle for an unofficial visit to Florida.

In Brussels, the hopes are great that Ursula von der Leyen will succeed in a meeting with Donald Trump in Rome, who is his first visit as a relatively newly appointed president.

But on questions Whether a meeting between her and Donald Trump has been planned, the European Commission has responded to avoidance.

– The visit on Saturday takes place for another reason. It is the Pope’s funeral and that is the reason for the trip to Rome. But I cannot rule out that bilateral meetings are held, says a spokesperson from the European Commission.

– If opportunities arise in connection with the funeral, they will of course be used.

Since Donald Trump again became the US president, relations with the EU have severely deteriorated. Statements such as the EU created to « fuck with the United States » and judgments about Europeans as « pathetic », have been interspersed with shock -height customs and question marks about US military involvement in Europe.

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