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Benelux: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg

Johnson was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Biden on his victory and express his eagerness to begin working together. In a tweet, Johnson elaborated further by announcing key initiatives on which he would like to collaborate, including “climate change,” “promoting democracy,” and “building back better from the pandemic.”77 The U.S. and the UK

still have many shared interests, but when it comes to negotiating the post-Brexit era, Biden may choose to maximize relations with the European Union. Ultimately, it will be up to the UK to

initiate and strengthen relations to further their interests. The next four years will reveal just how

strong the ties of this long-standing relationship really are.

Though small, the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) carry significant weight in European and international affairs. Hosting global financial, security, and diplomatic institutions, the Benelux responses to the U.S. election provoked a critical look inward as well as outward towards the U.S. as a once-reliable partner in multilateral agreements.

BELGIUM Belgian responses to the U.S. election are somewhat illustrative of the various responses seen across the European continent. The 2020 U.S. election was followed closely by Belgians and presented an opportunity for the country’s politicians and citizens to reexamine their own

political parties, electoral processes, and their dependence on American leadership. Built on a shared commitment to multilateral institutions and agreements such as NATO and the Paris

Climate Accords, an otherwise historically harmonious Belgian-American relationship has developed fissures as a result of the Trump presidency. Mainstream Belgian media outlets lambasted Trump in the days leading up to the election, chiding his denial of climate change, his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and his

repeated claims of election fraud.78 Politicians across Belgium’s political spectrum were quick to offer their congratulations to Biden, with many expressing hopes for reconciliation and the “defense of the values of democracy.”79 While political leaders may have displayed unyielding

support for the U.S. election results, some Belgians took these congratulatory messages as an avenue to express their own frustrations over the Belgian democratic process. The results of the U.S. election caused the Belgian public to look inward with some dissatisfaction, and an example of introspective sentiments betrays potential discontent with their

own current electoral systems. A congratulatory tweet from Prime Minister Alexander De Croo

sparked controversy, as people critiqued the Belgian multi-party system; one Twitter user noted, “[Biden] has the right to win, because he had the most votes. That cannot be said of you…your party was only the 7th.”80 This defense of the American electoral system for upholding democracy

is contradictory to an October 2020 study conducted by Eupinions, an independent platform for

European public opinion, measuring the public’s concern for the integrity of the election. When asked, “To what extent do you find democracy to be effective, or ineffective in the U.S.?” 64% of surveyed Belgians responded “ineffective.”81 However, after the election, according to Simon

Desplanques of Eupinions, a “vast majority of the Belgian public is confident in the results” despite Trump’s claims of fraud.82 This post-election evaluation reflects the positive feelings Belgium attached to the successful transfer of power. While many in Belgium and across Europe like to view Trump’s presidency as an accident or fluke, Steven Blockmans, Director of Research at the Centre for European Policy Studies has warned of this blinding optimism, cautioning, “in all but the name, America First is

here to stay.”83 Belgium’s own nationalist, anti-immigration, right-leaning Vlaams Belang party was quick to emphasize that Trump’s rise to power was not an isolated phenomenon, claiming

that Belgian politics has been moving ever-further from the needs of everyday citizens.84

NETHERLANDS To Belgium’s north, the Netherlands found itself similarly transfixed by the drama of the U.S. election, but it resulted in significantly less internal turmoil. This is due in part to the fact that the Dutch enjoyed relatively normal relations with the U.S. throughout Trump’s presidency.

This apparent departure from the common narrative of soured international relations can be at

least partially attributed to the Netherlands’ tendency to accept and sometimes even conform to

the policies of the U.S. One example of this dynamic is the Netherlands’ pledge to comply with

former President Trump’s infamous plea for more NATO countries to spend 2% of their GDP on

their militaries, as well as high levels of mutual trade and investment.85

Despite these somewhat unremarkable developments between the U.S. and the

Netherlands, Dutch media outlets covered the 2020 election relentlessly. Many media producers,

regardless of political affiliation or genre, had dedicated some exclusive segment of coverage to the American elections. Those producers that broadcast or update more than once a week

often dedicated multiple days’ worth of coverage to the elections. Regardless of the political

affiliations of the various sources, most of the election coverage centered on the material facts of the election itself. When results became clear, sources aimed at more metropolitan audiences presented then President-elect Joe Biden as a means for reversing the effects of Trump’s foreign policy.

This coverage indicates that the Dutch recognize the far-reaching implications of the U.S.

presidency, even though it has limited direct influence on day-to-day life in the Netherlands. Politicians’ reactions varied predictably according to position along a liberal-conservative

spectrum, and congratulations were not universally extended to Biden, with those on the right echoing claims of election fraud.86 The Dutch government avoided sensationalizing the election,

releasing no official statements outside of a congratulatory message from Prime Minister Mark Rutte, which restated the position that relations with the U.S. were strong even during Trump’s

presidency and would most likely continue that way.87 Juxtaposed with those of its European neighbors, the Dutch response exemplifies the immense curiosity and attention the U.S. election garnered. The reaction does, however, represent an outlier in its awareness that, at least for a

country like the Netherlands, U.S. politics are rather inconsequential.

LUXEMBOURG Though small, Luxembourg carries immense importance in the global financial system. Due to its public policy framework, lack of corruption, and political stability, Luxembourg has

created an investment climate that attracts foreign investors, particularly those from the U.S.

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