Washington’s European allies criticize Trump for inciting supporters to storm Congress

The allies of the United States in Europe have condemned storming the US Capitol Building by supporters of the outgoing US President Donald Trump, stressing that Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat in the American presidential election has led to yesterday’s violence in Washington.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel blamed Trump for the violence and expressed regret that he “did not admit his election defeat” and caused further tensions in his country.

In a statement on Thursday, Merkel said she was “sad and furious” to see supporters of Trump storming the US Capitol to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.

 “Unfortunately President Trump has not accepted his defeat since November, and also did not accept it yesterday. And of course this has created an atmosphere, which led to such incidents, violent incidents,” she said.

British Secretary of State for the Home Department Priti Patel said that Trump’s rhetoric in refusing his loss in the elections was a “direct cause of the horrific violence that took place at the Congress building.” She indicated that Trump “did not prevent the escalation of violence, rather, he fueled it.”

On his part, the Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin expressed “concern” over what happened at the Capitol Building, while the Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney held Trump responsible for what happened, as he kept trying to cancel the election result.

In a tweet, Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, stressed the need to respect the results of the US elections that took place last November.

The Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg confirmed that Trump is to blame for what happened in the Capitol Building.

Austria also condemned the violent events in Washington that led to casualties. 

Chancellor of Austria, Sebastian Kurz, expressed his deep concern over the attack on the Capitol Building and called for a peaceful and organized transition of power.

President Alexander Van der Bellen of Austria said he was shocked and deeply concerned over storming the Capitol Building, pointing out that it is the result of Trump’s “delay” in transferring power.

The Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg regretted the riot acts in Washington, saying “it is unacceptable to ignore this violence, hatred and chaos.”  

Hamda Mustafa