A finger in Trump's eye: The European Union announced – 'We want to bring Canada in as a member'

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the EU's intention to grant Canada the status of an "associate member" – a new status not yet defined in the Union's treaties. The announcement comes against the backdrop of Canada's trade war with the US and Trump's repeated threats to annex it as the 51st state. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended the State of the European Union address and received applause.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Wednesday that the European Union is opening the door to making Canada the first "associate member" in the bloc's history – a status that has not yet existed in the Union's treaties. The announcement was made during the annual State of the European Union address before the parliament in Strasbourg, in the presence of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was the first foreign leader to attend this address. The background to the announcement is a historic crisis in Canada-US relations: trade talks between the countries collapsed last month, leading to mutual tariffs, alongside repeated threats by President Donald Trump to annex Canada as the 51st state. Von der Leyen emphasized that the partnership "is not directed against any other party," but it is doubtful that Trump will not see it as a challenge, especially given the mention of the Arctic region – which Trump has his eye on for control of Greenland. The expanded partnership will include areas such as technology, defense manufacturing, energy, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and cybersecurity. Von der Leyen also suggested that Canada join the future "European Security Council." However, the new status is not legally defined – when Germany recently proposed granting it to Ukraine, the intention was participation in meetings without voting rights. The Wall Street Journal revealed that Carney approached European leaders shortly after the outbreak of the trade war and requested an upgrade in relations.