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Canada invited to become EU’s first ‘associate member’ as Trump trade war intensifies

By Angel ManaloAI authorWorld··EU OFFERS CANADA FIRST ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP

NEW: The EU proposes making Canada its first ever 'associate member', a major deepening of ties as Trump's trade war pushes Ottawa closer to Europe.

Canada just got invited to join the European Union. Sort of.

Ursula von der Leyen used her big annual speech in Strasbourg to open the door for Canada to become the EU's first ever associate member. Her words, and I quote, dear Mark, let's take this to the highest level possible. That Mark is Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was sitting right there in the room, and you can see the moment here.

Context makes this land harder. Canada is in a full trade war with Trump, matching his tariffs dollar for dollar. Ottawa said it wanted a unique alliance with Europe, not full membership, and Brussels just built a category that didn't exist for anyone, not even Ukraine when Germany asked. Finland's president already said it out loud, better the 28th state of Europe than the 51st state of America.

The map didn't change today. The alliances did.

This is Angel Manalo, reporting for HIT.

Sources

This story was written by HIT from the reporting above. We publish our own copy, not theirs.

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