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ANGELA MERKEL

FOCUS: Trump tearing up diplomatic rules by attacking UK and Germany

President Donald Trump is once again tearing up the diplomatic norm of treading lightly in allies' domestic politics, with his team attacking Britain's beleaguered leader over Brexit and irritating Germany.

FOCUS: Trump tearing up diplomatic rules by attacking UK and Germany
Archive photo shows Donald Trump and Angela Merkel in Hamburg in 2017. Photo: DPA

Trump, who has slaughtered so many sacred cows in US politics, has shown no compunction over lambasting Prime Minister Theresa May's handling of Britain's most sensitive issue, even as she sought to build a warm relationship with him.

His team has also been ruffling feathers in Germany recently, prompting high profile politicians to call the US Ambassador a “total diplomatic failure”.

Causing a stir

Earlier this week, Richard Grenell, US Ambassador to Germany and a rising star in Republican circles, caused a stir with his outspoken criticism on issues from Iran policy to usage of telecom equipment by China's Huawei.

SEE ALSO: 'Total diplomatic failure': US Ambassador sparks anger in Germany

He drew particular fire after he reprimanded Germany for its budget planning in which defense spending would be well below the 2.0 percent of GDP targeted by NATO and decline by 2023.

“That the German government would even be considering reducing its already unacceptable commitments to military readiness is a worrisome signal to Germany's 28 NATO allies,” Grenell said.

A senior lawmaker of ruling coalition members the Social Democrats, Carsten Schneider, labeled Grenell a “total diplomatic failure” and the liberal Free Democrat's (FDP) Wolfgang Kubicki even demanded the envoy be expelled.

“Any US diplomat who acts like a high commissioner of an occupying power must learn that our tolerance also knows its limits,” said Kubicki.

SEE ALSO: What you should know about Trump's new ambassador to Germany

Chancellor Angela Merkel responded more diplomatically, saying Germany would “continue our effort” to raise defense spending “but not at the expense of development aid.”

Trump has been unflinching in his criticism of Merkel, especially her welcome of millions of refugees and migrants into Germany.

Richard Grenell, US Ambassador to Germany. Photo: DPA

'Democracy in the UK is all but dead'

With Britain mired in crisis ahead of its scheduled March 29th departure from the EU, Trump said that May “didn't listen” to his negotiating suggestions and that he was “surprised to see how badly it has all gone.”

His son, Donald Trump Jr., went further in a biting op-ed in the eurosceptic Daily Telegraph newspaper, saying that “democracy in the UK is all but dead.”

The 41-year-old, seen as harboring future political ambitions, deplored that May “ignored advice from my father” and wrote: “Now, the clock has virtually run out and almost all is lost — exactly as the European elites were hoping.”

National security advisor John Bolton, who advocated Brexit before taking a job at the White House, was more diplomatic during an appearance on Sky News but said that Trump sought a resolution that “allows the United States and Britain to come to trade deals again.”

Brexit advocates have held out the possibility of a trade agreement with the United States as proof that Britain would not be isolated by leaving the EU.

SEE ALSO: Prepare for Brexit – the ultimate checklist for Brits in Germany

'No friend of Britain'

Former president Barack Obama had also weighed in on Brexit, saying before the vote that Britain would be at the “back of the queue” for a trade deal if tt left the EU.

But senior Americans' full-on, personal criticism of the leader of Britain, generally considered the closest US ally, would have been unthinkable until recently.

“Donald Trump Jr. telling Britain our democracy is dead. Is it a joke?” tweeted David Lammy, an MP from Britain's opposition Labour Party.

Pointing to the younger Trump's meeting during the 2016 campaign with a Russian lawyer promising dirt on rival Hillary Clinton — an encounter being probed by special counsel Robert Mueller — Lammy wrote of the president's son: “You are no friend of Britain or democracy.”

Former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the European parliament's Liberal group and its Brexit committee, drew parallels between Trump and Brexit.

“Both Trump & Brexit involved external manipulation. Both were victories for our enemies,” he tweeted, adding: “There is another way.”

Not only UK and Germany

The US President has also increasingly attacked French President Emmanuel Macron over his climate and defense policies — stung after Macron, at last year's commemorations for the end of World War I, criticized Trump's brand of nationalist politics.

And Trump's ambassador to The Netherlands, Peter Hoekstra, had an unwelcome first encounter with the Dutch media when he arrived last year after the former congressman made unsubstantiated claims that Muslim extremists had turned sections of the country into no-go zones.

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BREXIT

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

The EU has drawn up plans to make it easier for non-EU citizens to gain longterm EU residency so they can move more easily around the bloc, but Italy-based citizens' rights campaigner Clarissa Killwick says Brits who moved to the EU before Brexit are already losing out.

OPINION: Pre-Brexit Brits in Europe should be given EU long-term residency

With all the talk about the EU long-term residency permit and the proposed improvements there is no mention that UK citizens who are Withdrawal Agreement “beneficiaries” are currently being left out in the cold.

The European Commission has stated that we can hold multiple statuses including the EU long-term permit (Under a little-known EU law, third-country nationals can in theory acquire EU-wide long-term resident status if they have lived ‘legally’ in an EU country for at least five years) but in reality it is just not happening.

This effectively leaves Brits locked into their host countries while other third country nationals can enjoy some mobility rights. As yet, in Italy, it is literally a question of the computer saying no if someone tries to apply.

The lack of access to the EU long-term permit to pre-Brexit Brits is an EU-wide issue and has been flagged up to the European Commission but progress is very slow.

READ ALSO: EU government settle on rules for how non-EU citizens could move around Europe

My guess is that few UK nationals who already have permanent residency status under the Withdrawal Agreement are even aware of the extra mobility rights they could have with the EU long-term residency permit – or do not even realise they are two different things.

Perhaps there won’t be very large numbers clamouring for it but it is nothing short of discrimination not to make it accessible to British people who’ve built their lives in the EU.

They may have lost their status as EU citizens but nothing has changed concerning the contributions they make, both economically and socially.

An example of how Withdrawal Agreement Brits in Italy are losing out

My son, who has lived almost his whole life here, wanted to study in the Netherlands to improve his employment prospects.

Dutch universities grant home fees rather than international fees to holders of an EU long-term permit. The difference in fees for a Master’s, for example, is an eye-watering €18,000. He went through the application process, collecting the requisite documents, making the payments and waited many months for an appointment at the “questura”, (local immigration office).

On the day, it took some persuading before they agreed he should be able to apply but then the whole thing was stymied because the national computer system would not accept a UK national. I am in no doubt, incidentally, that had he been successful he would have had to hand in his WA  “carta di soggiorno”.

This was back in February 2022 and nothing has budged since then. In the meantime, it is a question of pay up or give up for any students in the same boat as my son. There is, in fact, a very high take up of the EU long-term permit in Italy so my son’s non-EU contemporaries do not face this barrier.

Long-term permit: The EU’s plan to make freedom of movement easier for non- EU nationals 

Completing his studies was stalled by a year until finally his Italian citizenship came through after waiting over 5 years.  I also meet working adults in Italy with the EU long-term permit who use it for work purposes, such as in Belgium and Germany, and for family reunification.  

Withdrawal agreement card should double up as EU long-term residency permit

A statement that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries should be able to hold multiple statuses is not that easy to find. You have to scroll quite far down the page on the European Commission’s website to find a link to an explanatory document. It has been languishing there since March 2022 but so far not proved very useful.

It has been pointed out to the Commission that the document needs to be multilingual not just in English and “branded” as an official communication from the Commission so it can be used as a stand-alone. But having an official document you can wave at the immigration authorities is going to get you nowhere if Member State governments haven’t acknowledged that WA beneficiaries can hold multiple statuses and issue clear guidance and make sure systems are modified accordingly.

I can appreciate this is no mean feat in countries where they do not usually allow multiple statuses or, even if they do, issue more than one residency card. Of course, other statuses we should be able to hold are not confined to EU long-term residency, they should include the EU Blue Card, dual nationality, family member of an EU citizen…

Personally, I do think people should be up in arms about this. The UK and EU negotiated an agreement which not only removed our freedom of movement as EU citizens, it also failed to automatically give us equal mobility rights to other third country nationals. We are now neither one thing nor the other.

It would seem the only favour the Withdrawal Agreement did us was we didn’t have to go out and come back in again! Brits who follow us, fortunate enough to get a visa, may well pip us at the post being able to apply for EU long-term residency as clearly defined non-EU citizens.

I have been bringing this issue to the attention of the embassy in Rome, FCDO and the European Commission for three years now. I hope we will see some movement soon.

Finally, there should be no dragging of heels assuming we will all take citizenship of our host countries. Actually, we shouldn’t have to, my son was fortunate, even though it took a long time. Others may not meet the requirements or wish to give up their UK citizenship in countries which do not permit dual nationality.  

Bureaucratic challenges may seem almost insurmountable but why not simply allow our Withdrawal Agreement permanent card to double up as the EU long-term residency permit.

Clarissa Killwick,

Since 2016, Clarissa has been a citizens’ rights campaigner and advocate with the pan-European group, Brexpats – Hear Our Voice.
She is co-founder and co-admin of the FB group in Italy, Beyond Brexit – UK citizens in Italy.

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