Brussels commits to filling the void left by USAID to advance the globalist agenda with European money
The European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Jozef Síkela, made Brussels’ strategy clear in a recent interview with the newspaper El País: Europe does not plan to withdraw from the international aid arena—quite the opposite. As the United States pulls back in this field, the European Union is preparing to fill the gaps others have left behind, maintaining its globalist vision and strengthening its influence through mechanisms like the Global Gateway program.
Síkela did not hide his disappointment over the closure of the emblematic USAID program during Donald Trump’s presidency, a decision he called “the wrong message for development.” However, rather than a setback, he sees it as a strategic opportunity for Europe to expand its presence in regions where powers like China or Russia are already taking action. “If we don’t act, we’re leaving that tool in the hands of our adversaries,” he warned forcefully.
With a planned investment of up to 300 billion euros, Global Gateway aims to boost job creation, improve infrastructure, and increase market access in recipient countries. Nevertheless, this ambitious plan follows in the footsteps of previous cooperation policies aligned with the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), whose ideological nature has been questioned by various sectors. Despite acknowledging that traditional cooperation has delivered limited results, Síkela does not propose changing its core but rather making it more efficient and appealing to private investment.
The approach, according to the commissioner, must be “agile, focused, and selective,” and the most important thing is to convince European citizens that inaction today will be costlier tomorrow. In his analogy, climate change is like a chronic illness: ignoring it won’t make it go away. Under this logic, Brussels continues to justify massive investment in global initiatives that, in the name of pragmatism, promote social models that many consider foreign or invasive.
In his analysis of the international context, Síkela downplayed the criticism coming from Latin America, where governments like those of Javier Milei or (formerly) Jair Bolsonaro have labeled the SDGs an “ideological agenda.” For the commissioner, these political challenges are not an obstacle but a competitive advantage. He believes that the abandonment of these agendas by some countries opens new windows of opportunity for European industry and innovation, which could lead global technological development and monetize it in the future.
