Mar 2 2025
SINGAPORE – Mr Michael McGrath is a man on a mission.
Arriving in Singapore fresh from a European Commission visit to India, his first diplomatic trip after assuming his new portfolio, his focus is razor sharp.
Asia is a “very important region for us, and we are anxious to deepen the level of cooperation across a range of different areas”, he said in an interview with The Straits Times on March 3.
He praised Singapore as a vital trading partner and gateway to the Asean region, highlighting bilateral cooperation in areas such as digital trade and data flows.
This economic collaboration has broader significance. Referring to the recently concluded European Union-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement, he highlighted the deal as a “template” for their collaboration with other countries.
“We see the vast potential of the market in Asia and the potential that affords for European companies… It is a two-way relationship where the trade and investment flows are beneficial,” said Mr McGrath, who is the European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection.
Is a further Indo-Pacific economic pivot in the offing?
“We have to look east as well as look west,” the realist, who used to be Ireland’s finance minister, added. Downplaying any de-emphasis in transatlantic ties, he pointed out that the US-Europe economic relationship remains a bulwark underpinning any EU economic strategy.
A transatlantic rift
“It has been a difficult week,” Mr McGrath nonetheless acknowledged, underscoring the palpable sense the transatlantic rift has deepened over the past week, after talks between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington on Feb 28 disintegrated into a televised shouting match.
But he held firm to the view that the US and EU will continue to work together in search of a way forward.
A summit in London on March 2 sought to smooth over a growing fracture between Europe and the US in finding a face-saving solution that provides Ukraine with some form of security guarantee and signals that Europe is meeting this momentous moment with brave resolve.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have advanced a deal that they hope would include US cover for a European “coalition of the willing” to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine.
It would also involve giving the US a share of revenue from Ukraine’s mineral sales, providing it with an economic stake in any eventual peace settlement.
Mr McGrath’s exasperation with the shift in US foreign policy, however, is unmissable.
“This day last week, my colleagues and I stood at the Wall of Remembrance in Independence Square. It just brings home the reality of the brutality of the war in Ukraine, caused by Russia’s invasion and Russia’s aggression.”
A US-backed United Nations Security Council resolution, passed in February, had taken a neutral stance on the war, breaking with the views of its European allies.
“We have to remind ourselves of the fundamental truth here, that there is an aggressor, and that is Russia, and there is an innocent victim, and that is Ukraine and its people,” Mr McGrath said.
But just maybe, Mr Trump’s upending of US policy towards Ukraine may be a watershed that ushers in a new era in European security and rearmament.
“Europe has to be in a position to secure its own borders and to protect the integrity of Europe, and that is what we will do,” Mr McGrath reflected.
Read more here: https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe-eyes-asia-for-economic-opportunities-amid-us-rift
