Brussels would punish China in a delicate diplomatic situation
In recent weeks, significant progress has been made towards resolving the trade conflict between the United States and China. Representatives of the two countries continued negotiations in Geneva in May, resulting in a three-month suspension of most of the tariffs imposed on each other, which exceeded 100%, and a decision to establish a permanent consultation mechanism to resolve economic relations. Subsequently, as a result of trade negotiations in London in June, an agreement in principle was reached between the two superpowers on the framework for implementing the Geneva Agreement.
At the same time, Brussels is preparing a package of sanctions against two Chinese banks suspected of helping Russia circumvent Western trade embargoes.
This would be the first time that the European Union has imposed punitive measures on third-country financial institutions for supporting Russia’s war,
while Ursula von der Leyen made it clear that countries contributing to the maintenance of Moscow’s war machine through trade “can expect serious consequences”. The picture is further complicated by the fact that, in parallel with the preparation of sanctions, Brussels leaders are planning to hold a summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing next month.
Peaceful cooperation is needed with the United States and China
The latest findings of the Project Europe survey show that
people across Europe want Brussels to stop its ideological anti-China policy and instead work with both the US and China to build peaceful relations.
The survey shows that six out of ten EU respondents (60%) believe that the European Union should strive for peaceful economic cooperation with both superpowers, and more than 50% of respondents in all 27 Member States share this view. The consistent pro-peace stance of Hungarians is reflected in the fact that the largest proportion of Hungarians (85%) believe that, in the shadow of the trade conflict, the EU should strive for peaceful cooperation with both the United States and China.
In the first half of 2016, the Századvég Foundation conducted a public opinion survey covering the 28 Member States of the European Union to examine the views of European citizens on the issues that most affect the future of the Union. The Project28 public opinion survey was the most extensive ever, with a unique survey of 1,000 randomly selected adults per country, totalling 28,000. The main objectives of the survey were to gauge public sense of prosperity and to explore public attitudes towards the performance of the European Union, the migration crisis and rising terrorism. Following the surveys of 2017, 2018 and 2019, the Századvég Foundation, on behalf of the Hungarian government, continued the research since 2020 under the name Project Europe, which continued to reflect on the most dominant topics in European political and public discourse. The 2025 survey was carried out in 30 countries across Europe, interviewing 30,000 people using the CATI method between 18 February and 17 April.
