The president of the European Commission (EC), Jean-Claude Juncker, manifested on Thursday “highly concerned” by the trade war between the US and China, due to the negative effect it could have on the economies of the planet.
“The first consequence will be the decline in economic growth in the world,” Juncker said at a news conference in the Slovenian town of Brdo pri Kranju, northwest of Ljubljana.
The Luxembourg politician described as “unnecessary” the commercial tensions that Washington and Beijing have maintained for months, with the increasing imposition of import tariffs on the other side.
The situation has aroused concern about its impact on the evolution of the global economy: already last April, the International Monetary Fund reduced by two tenths its forecast on world growth, up to 3.3%.
“I am very concerned about this development, if these two players (USA and China) fail to bring this conflict to a successful conclusion, which is not necessary, it is not good for trade, for exchange, for social development in this continent and in the rest of the world, “said the president of the EC.
Juncker made the remarks after participating in a meeting of the so-called “Three Seas Initiative” (Adriatic, Baltic and Black Sea), aimed at promoting infrastructure and energy projects in the countries of Central Europe, the Baltic and the Balkans.
In a joint statement, the twelve participating countries urged the EU institutions to integrate the objectives of their initiative into the policies of the European Union (EU), for which they decided to create a funding fund.
Brussels has promised to help with 42,300 million euros to improve interconnectivity in the region until 2027. “I think this is an initiative that will narrow the gap between different parts of Europe,” Juncker said.
The vice president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Vazil Huda, estimated in 500,000 million euros the volume of investments that would need to invest until 2030 the twelve countries “between the Three Seas” to reach the level of Western Europe in infrastructure, energy , transport and digitalization.
Hudak promised the support of the EIB as an “active partner” in the projects.
The initiative has strong support from Washington, which tries to influence to reduce the Russian presence in the region.
The retired American general James L. Jones said today that his country will invest several billions of dollars and advocated strengthening the European borders in the Baltic and the Black Sea.
“There begins the defense of Europe, we must take the threats seriously and respond jointly to them,” said Jones. (EFE) .-
