When Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain welcomes President Trump to his country residence, Chequers, for a planned state visit next week, their encounter will show off Mr. Starmer the statesman, drawing on his well-honed relationship with the president to lobby for his help in defending Ukraine against a predatory Russia.
It is hard to imagine a starker contrast to Mr. Starmer the politician. He is still reeling from the resignation of his deputy prime minister after a tax entanglement and the dismissal of his ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, because of Mr. Mandelson’s ties to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Add to that the government’s plunging poll numbers and a surging right-wing populist opposition.
The same split screen is playing out in France, where President Emmanuel Macron just lost another prime minister — his sixth — to a no-confidence vote, and in Germany, where Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s plans to overhaul the economy are bogged down by his shaky government coalition.
Rarely have Europe’s leaders acted so united and resolute on the global stage, while suffering so many domestic political setbacks. Their resilience reflects a determination to confront Russia’s aggression, which was on vivid display on Wednesday morning, when Russian drones entered Polish airspace and caused NATO allies to scramble fighter jets, in a dangerous escalation of the conflict.
“In the current climate, where there is such an overriding crisis, the fact that these leaders are weakened politically at home doesn’t matter so much,” said Peter Ricketts, a former British national security adviser who also served as ambassador to France. “There’s no divide across the parties about Ukraine.”
But experts question how long Europe’s leaders can keep walking tall abroad while stumbling at home. The fragmentation of politics in Britain, France and Germany has left centrist governments fearful of losing their grip on power and consumed by domestic issues like immigration and the economy.
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