By naming the European Union (EU) as his adversary, Donald Trump may have done Europeans an extraordinary favor. Nevertheless, although the EU has made no progress, institutionally speaking, for several decades, and public opinion has shown increasingly little interest in its advancement, and although publishers have advised against writing about Europe, as any literature on it would be a flop, the Union has suddenly returned to the heart of conversations and hopes.

The EU has been seen by both the far left and the far right as an enemy to be fought and the call to leave it was never far away. Now, it has suddenly appeared as a familiar, reassuring, and protective presence. Whereas previously, all the governing parties have tried to shift the blame onto the European Commission for unpopular decisions, today the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has assumed a matriarchal mantle.

In the face of the American president's astonishing shift, Europeans have finally decided to strengthen their ties and to come up with a joint response to the dual threat posed by Russia and the United States and they seem to have suddenly woken up to everything that unites them.

Although political, economic, and cultural differences between member states tend to be magnified when viewed from the inside, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – signed in 2000 and which came into legal force in 2009, after the signing of the Lisbon Treaty in 2007 – vividly demonstrates the singularity of the EU and the values it proclaims: "The Union is founded on the indivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity; it is based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. It places the individual at the heart of its activities, by establishing the citizenship of the Union and creating an area of freedom, security, and justice."

Twenty-six of the EU's member states [Hungary chose not to associate] have just agreed to considerably increase their military capabilities and spending to defend the charter's values. A decision that has given rise to many questions. And we should not shy away from overused terms: Europe is at a crossroads, and the choice of the best strategy is a delicate one.

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