"By mid-1999, when the war in Kosovo finally ended, the first flowers were already growing from aluminum cans labeled USAID," write Georg Hessler and Forest Rogers at the beginning of an article for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
"The American Agency for International Development fed Kosovo refugees as they fled through the forests and stayed in overcrowded refugee camps across the border, in Albania and Macedonia, while Serbian security forces were still fighting Kosovo guerrillas, killing and burning. Only NATO bombing stopped the violence. Upon their return, people in the particularly affected areas of Kosovo found devastation. A gift from the American people, it was on cans, which then served as flower pots. Thus began the American-Kosovo friendship."
Trump and Musk took over the Russian narrative?
This Swiss newspaper then states that US President Donald Trump and his executor Elon Musk now "want to destroy USAID, that powerful tool of American soft power" and explains this by saying that "American industry and the development aid bureaucracy contribute to the destabilization of world peace by promoting ideas in other countries that are in direct opposition to harmonious and stable relations within and between states."
"The Trump administration is thus directly taking up the Russian accusation that USAID is behind pro-democracy movements in Eastern Europe and the Middle East," the authors note. They then state:
"Washington has indeed often linked humanitarian aid with political messages, the emphases of which have changed slightly depending on the administration. Yet, Democrats and Republicans have so far agreed on America's basic mission - to create a better, more democratic world."
Rubio: Humanitarian and medical aid will remain
But USAID now reports directly to new Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who in late January granted a three-month waiver from the agency's suspension - but only so the US could continue to provide "essential medical services, humanitarian assistance, food delivery, and shelter" around the world. However, the waiver does not apply to any activities related to gender ideology or family planning.
It remains uncertain whether the United States will continue its humanitarian engagement in the long term. And the crisis in American development assistance has direct consequences for Europe's strategic environment – especially for the countries of sub-Saharan Africa in the Sahel region.
The Swiss newspaper states that the Sahel "receives a billion dollars in aid from Western countries every year. The EU and USAID invest approximately the same amount, which is surprising given the high migratory pressure towards Europe and the political changes in the region. At the same time, Russia has a military presence in the Sahel and Central Africa, while China invests in infrastructure projects across the continent, but provides almost no humanitarian aid."
"In other words," the Swiss newspaper continues, "if USAID were to completely suspend its activities south of the Sahara, the Kremlin could exploit the situation to encourage a migration wave across the Mediterranean - thereby further deepening political divisions within European states."
Three scenarios
In this regard, the authors list three basic possible scenarios:
"The EU is waking up: Brussels is taking over a significant part of the previous American costs in strategically important regions from West Africa to Pakistan. The EU would thus gain greater credibility as an international actor, be able to support democracy more strongly and have greater influence on regulating migration flows from countries of origin. Already after the Russian attack on Ukraine, the EU has increased its humanitarian engagement south of the Sahara.
China is moving forward: Beijing is filling the void left by USAID. Chinese involvement could reduce migratory pressure, but it would also strengthen the global influence of "communist capitalism." This would be a fundamental shift, posing a serious ideological and financial challenge to the EU.
EU blackmail: Neither Beijing nor Brussels is actively responding to the US withdrawal. Russia and the US are using the EU as leverage in political and economic matters, with the threat of triggering a new wave of refugees. The Kremlin already controls large parts of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. In addition, it has an ally in Libyan General Haftar, who could use the territory under his control around Benghazi as a logistics center for the cynical trafficking of fugitives.
Development aid and military power - hand in hand
Neue Zürcher Zeitung notes that "in the area of development cooperation, the EU is facing a challenge similar to that of NATO: the US is threatening to no longer be a reliable partner. This should be a wake-up call for European policy: the soft power of helping foreign countries and the protection of one's own sovereignty are inextricably linked. An integrated security policy also includes humanitarian engagement, not just military capabilities."
And finally, the authors return to the story from the beginning of the article and say: "Even in Kosovo, NATO's military power, by itself, was not enough to create a lasting alliance between the population and the West: rations for bare survival represented a promise that went beyond liberation – the hope of true peace and prosperity."
Bonus video:
