American elections: the world’s despots don’t want to be identified with Joe Biden

All world leaders are watching closely how incumbent President Joe Biden will reshape America’s foreign policy after four years of Trump’s “America First” policy.

Many leaders were quick to be enthusiastic about collaborating with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Those who welcome the result of the elections and have congratulated Biden are the leaders and heads of government who defend democracy, the rule of law and international cooperation.

Trumps is of the opposite opinion friends between right-wing and authoritarian populist politicians and governments. Trump is his galleon figure and he’s dating. Therefore, they insist, like trumpeters in America, that the election has not yet been decided. Trump accuses the Democrats of cheating. And the votes in various states will be counted.

Others, for the sake of security, completely refrain from commenting on the election results.

It is the traditional ally of the United States among the democracies of Asia, Africa and Latin America that has welcomed regime change in Washington. Trump has not seen any added value in the alliances, but he has seen them as an economic and military burden for the United States. It has expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that, for example, Japan and South Korea do not pay for the US forces stationed there.

In Asia, countries like Japan and South Korea, very close to security policy with the United States, now hope that Biden will restore full cooperation. East Asia is a region in the throes of a geopolitical power shift, overshadowed by an increasingly powerful China.

A similar relationship it has worried Europe, the EU and Canada, where several NATO member states have lost favor with Trump; one of the reasons was that it did not consider that they paid their fair share of the costs of the defense alliance.

The euphoria of the European Commission Executive Director Ursula von der Leyen was easy to read when she complimented Biden: “I hope to meet you as soon as possible. As the world continues to change and new challenges and opportunities emerge, a renewed partnership is especially important. ”

In Berlin, the most powerful capital in the EU, the government is happy. Germany is a staunch defender of multilateralism and is a leader on the climate issue, two issues on which it has cut between Angela Merkel and Trump. With Biden, the German government hopes for a normalization with its most important economic and security policy partner.

French Emmanuel Macron, who lamented Trump’s reluctant attitude toward the EU, was also quick to congratulate Biden. “Let’s work together!” tweeted.

Read more: Pia Gripenberg: Biden’s earnings make Europe breathe in relief

In Central Eastern Europe, on the other hand Right-wing nationalist-ruled countries, notably Hungary and Poland, have invested heavily in Trump as a counterweight to the EU. They will have a lot to clean up.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent a cold congratulation to Biden, after saying a few days earlier that a Trump victory was his “plan A.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent a cold congratulation to Biden, after saying a few days earlier that a Trump victory was his “plan A.” This is not surprising given that President Barack Obama and Biden harshly criticized the undemocratic development in Hungary.

Polish President Andrzej Duda of the right-wing nationalist Law and Justice party, who has always expressed his admiration for Trump, greeted Biden in a strange way. Duda congratulated on a successful election campaign, but managed to avoid the word “president” in his message.

Here he appears to be close to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucić, who on Sunday declared that Trump would be a better option for Serbia.

After a few days of silence, King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with whom Trump has cultivated intimate contacts, chose to congratulate Biden on the electoral victory.

From the BRICS countries (five of the world’s largest and fastest growing economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) only two have congratulated Biden on the electoral victory. It is South Africa and India, whose Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite Biden’s criticism of human rights violations, warmly congratulated the incoming president. Here, perhaps Kamala Harris’s Indian roots had an impact.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not congratulated Biden and, according to his spokesman, will not do so until the outcome of the election is “finally determined” officially. This is, of course, a stark contrast to when Alexander Lukashenko declared himself the winner in Belarus, apparently a rigged presidential election. Then Putin came out in an instant with a congratulation to his colleague in Minsk. No “certification” of the election result was required.

When Trump won the 2016 presidential election He closed the champagne corks in the Kremlin. Then the congratulations also came quickly from Moscow. Putin had never tried to hide his dislike of Hillary Clinton. There was a strong expectation that Trump, who has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Putin, would be open to more friendly cooperation with Russia, despite the invasion of Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.

Four years later, the attitude is more nuanced; Trump’s unpredictability has grown weary, and there is great disappointment that he failed to ease sanctions against Russia. The Kremlin’s view of Biden is not easy to decipher. Dmitry Trenin, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, is convinced that the former vice president, who is now the 46th president of the United States, will have a completely different foreign policy style than Trump. However, he does not learn to change his basic point of view: that Russia is an enemy of the United States.

China has also not commented on the outcome of the elections. For Beijing, choosing between Trump and Biden is not entirely easy. Trump has alternated between praising President Xi Jinping and blaming China for everything from currency manipulation to industrial espionage, ultimately leading to trade wars.

Nor China has commented on the outcome of the elections. For Beijing, choosing between Trump and Biden is not entirely easy. Trump has alternated between praising President Xi Jinping and blaming China for everything from currency manipulation to industrial espionage, ultimately leading to trade wars. And more recently, the racist accusations of “China virus” and “King Flu” were dropped.

Read more: Marianne Björklund: There is nothing to suggest the melting of the ice between China and the United States with Biden as president.

Biden has also voiced strong criticism of China, but with more emphasis on human rights, which is a particularly sore spot in Beijing. He has said that Xi is a “gangster” when he treats the minority Uighurs in Xinjiang province.

Brazil also declined to comment. The largest country in Latin America is headed by President Jair Bolsonaro, who is ideologically close to the outgoing president, and has sometimes been called “the Trump of the tropics.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan it really belongs to the same category. He has reason to be grateful to Trump, who did not object when his security apparatus crushed all opposition in the country. On the contrary, Trump congratulated his Turkish counterpart when he became a dictator in a referendum a few years ago. Trump also cleared the field for Turkey to invade Kurdish areas of Syria, something Biden harshly condemned.

After a long silence, Erdogan finally decided to congratulate Biden on Tuesday on the electoral victory.