A quick glance at Spiegel Online shows the panic in Germany over United States President Donald Trump. The cover of its latest magazine shows the new president holding the severed head of Lady Liberty. “Trump and Bannon Pursue a Vision of Autocracy” reads one headline. “Trump as Nero: Europe Must Defend Itself Against a Dangerous President” is another.

But not everyone in Europe is quite so hysterical. Instead, some see the election of Donald Trump as a major opportunity for Europe and for Germany.

The European Union has a long history of taking advantage of crises. “Europe will be forged in crises and will be the sum of the solutions adopted for those crises,” said Jean Monnet, one the European Union’s founding fathers.

“[C]risis represents an opportunity,” said German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. “I’m not saying that I enjoy being in a crisis, but I’m not worried. Europe always moved forward in times of crisis. Sometimes you need a little pressure for certain decisions to be taken.”

Mr. Trump’s policies certainly represent a crisis for Europe. But it is a crisis that Europeans can use.

Using Crisis to Unify

The problems posed by President Trump and by Brexit are “an enormous opportunity” for Europe, former Belgian Prime Minister and chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt told the bbc World Service yesterday, saying that it will enable Europe to “put in place what the founding fathers had already in mind—that was a political union, a defense union, an economic union, a fiscal union.”

“I think this idea of the founding fathers is returning now,” he said. “[It] is now again on the table as the only possible answer to the new world order that is shaping for the moment.”

Verhofstadt is far from the only person who thinks that way. Judy Dempsey, editor in chief of Carnegie Europe’s Strategic Europe blog, wrote:

They either allow the United States and Russia to divide the bloc—and even destabilize it—or they realize that they have to complete a project begun 60 years ago in Rome. …Don’t EU leaders now finally understand that Europe faces instability, which in itself is so dangerous to even contemplate, if they do not rise to the challenges that Trump and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin are throwing at Europe? …Political and economic integration must be now pursued and quickly. Germany, France and the other eurozone countries have a responsibility to push ahead. Whether or not all EU members support more integration or a two-speed Europe, integration should be made a priority.

The EU Observer pointed out the same need last week, in an article titled “EU Leaders Forced to Unite in New Trump Reality,” writing:

EU leaders pledged the need for unity and for Europe to stand on its own two feet at their meeting in Valletta on Friday (3 February), during a discussion on how to handle U.S. President Donald Trump, whom EU Council Chief Donald Tusk described earlier this week as a “threat” to the EU. …[German Chancellor Angela] Merkel said that this is an opportunity for Europe to redefine itself and become more self-reliant.

President Trump is a threat, yes, but an opportunity for Europe to become more unified in response. Dempsey emphasized the need for Europe to increase and unify its armed forces, voicing a concern shared by many who are responding to the new U.S. administration:

Europe’s weak external borders, the terrorist threat, and the weakening of America’s security commitment to Europe are surely enough reasons for European leaders to take their defense seriously. And even if even if Trump does commit himself to continuing America’s security umbrella over Europe, that itself is not enough to deal with the internal and external threats the EU faces.

An Opportunity for Europe to Step Up

Some also see the opportunity that Europe has to replace America in world politics. Former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb wrote an article for the Financial Times on February 3 titled “It’s Europe’s Turn to Fill the Global Power Vacuum.”

“The U.S. and the Soviet Union dominated world politics for the better part of 40 years,” he wrote. “With the Soviet collapse, the U.S. filled the power vacuum and became the undisputed superpower of the world …. The big question in 2017 is, who will begin to fill the power vacuum left by the U.S.?”

Europe, he said, needs to take on “global leadership.”

“The U.S. is fast losing credibility as the leader of the free world, and the EU alone can take on that mantle,” Stubb wrote. He also noted that the EU needs to “take a lead in foreign and security policy.”

He concluded (emphasis added throughout):

The U.S. is handing over the key to world politics. We should leave the door ajar for its return, but meanwhile, I hope the EU will seize the moment, grab the key and start taking a more prominent role on the world stage.

China and Russia also see an opportunity to step up in America’s absence. China is trying to present itself as the alternative world leader. But Europe now sees itself as the guardian of the liberal order and the only alternative to the United States.

German-Foreign-Policy.com noted, “Some members of the German establishment are expecting the EU’s ascent parallel to the United States’ descent on the world stage.”

Europe is working on replacing the U.S. in practical ways. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said, “We should now take advantage of the space that America is freeing up.” In order to do this, Gabriel said Europe “should quickly begin working on a new Asian strategy.”

An Opportunity for Germany

If Europe is the new leader of the free world, and if Germany leads Europe, what does that make Germany? Chancellor Merkel dismissed the idea that she was now leader of the free world as “absurd.” Yet she is deliberately confronting Mr. Trump in order to boost her own standing, as well as Germany’s.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung pointed out that Merkel “leaves nothing heard or read from the new administration unanswered”—she always responds to Trump’s latest controversial move or statement. Furthermore, Ms. Merkel never downplays her disagreements with the new administration by having a government spokesman read a statement. Instead “she does and says it personally” (ibid). The fact that the American media is holding her up as an alternative leader of the free world is a result of a deliberate policy of confronting Donald Trump. As German-Foreign-Policy.com said, “The concerted effort with the liberal U.S. opposition offers Berlin new possibilities for expanding influence.”

Shortly after Mr. Trump’s election, former Bavarian Minister President Edmund Stoiber told Focus Online that opportunities were opening up for Germany and Europe. “Is Trump better for Europe than Clinton would have been?” he was asked.

Stoiber replied, “It is possible.”

“This election is a real change for Europe,” he continued. “In the future, we will have to take on a lot more responsibility than before because Trump will focus primarily on the U.S.”

The election of Donald Trump is causing a lot of change in Europe. Those who have long wanted Europe to form a superstate and play a more prominent role are welcoming this change—even while they disagree with almost everything Mr. Trump does. For more on where this is leading in Europe, read “Trump Tells Germany: ‘Take Control!’”