Europe marks VE Day with Trump on its mind

As Western alliances unravel, Europe is entering an era that seems distant from what VE Day represented, the BBC's Katya Adler writes.

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The top-level diplomat who spent years at the transatlantic defence alliance asked not to be named in order to speak freely, but why so nihilistic? VE Day was a joint Allied triumph over Nazi Germany; over hatred, dictatorship, the Third Reich's territorial expansionism and heinous crimes against humanity.

So much blood was spilled achieving that victory. Some 51 million Allied soldiers and civilians died during World War Two, united in a pursuit to rid the world of the scourge of Nazism.

But 80 years on, we're surrounded by countless news and academic analyses breathlessly singling out Donald Trump as the modern day nail in the coffin of the strong transatlantic bonds forged back then. In Europe, the American president is viewed by many as the slayer-in-chief of decades-old common values; shared visions of security, democracy and rule of law.

But is that accurate, or too simplistic?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn7x3v5d1y4o

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