EU worried over USAID shutdown

Donald Trump’s order ending USAID and its 2025 55.8 billion-euro budget has the European Union scrambling to fill a gap they know they can’t manage alone.

“Europe alone cannot compensate for USAID’s withdrawal,” France’s Thani Mohamed-Soilihi, minister for the Francophonie and international partnerships, told Euractiv. His concerns are being echoed by European NGOs and the world over, except for Russia and leftist countries around the globe.

Isabella Löving, a deputy chair of the European parliament’s development committee, told the Guardian Tuesday that Trump’s decision to cut USAID “is very regrettable, [and] will have very dramatic consequences around the world.” She said EU filling the gap is impossible.

“If we’re thinking about global security and stability, the EU and its member states must invest in democracy, poverty eradication, and supporting communities and citizens in developing countries,” the former Swedish international development minister said.

“That is a way to prevent conflict and involuntary migration and instability that we don’t want to see,” Lövin added.

Charlotte Slente, the secretary general of the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), one of Europe’s largest NGOs, agrees, saying she foresees “some very difficult years” as increasing humanitarian crises meet dwindling budgets.

She noted that, for example, the DRC has forecast an increase of 6.7 million displaced people by the end of 2026, adding to the 122.6 million people worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict, political turmoil, or climate-induced disaster.

Mark Moore, CEO of British MANA Nutrition, said USAID’s closure means his company will not receive the $20 million the agency owes him. He noted that this will affect the lifesaving food packets his company sends to hundreds of thousands of malnourished children worldwide.

Not everybody regrets USAID shuttering

Last week, Russia applauded the US’s decision to shutter USAID. Vladimir Putin’s government calls the humanitarian body a “machine for interfering” in global affairs.

“It is anything but an aid, development and assistance agency,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. “It is a machine for interfering in internal affairs. It is a mechanism for changing regimes, political order, and state structure.”

Other so-called leftist regimes, including Iran, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, have also cheered on USAID’s end, calling it a “black box for corruption.”

Widely contested and fact-checked to be unsubstantiated, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have coincidentally said their decision to shut down USAID is linked to widespread fraud and corruption within the agency.

“We found fraud and abuse. Billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse,” Trump said in February.  Musk called USAID an “evil, criminal organisation, and a radical-left psy op.”