Europe

In his articles and appearances, Kliment Robev treats Europe as an economy caught between the United States and China – in trade, industry and technology. In 2024, in “Europe’s battle – on the pitch and off it”, he traced the rise of Chinese electric cars and the duties the European Commission imposed in response to their subsidised prices, warning of a trade war in which Germany would lose most. Later that year, in “Between tariffs and tanks: Europe in the shadow of Trump 2.0”, his focus moved to US tariffs on European exports and to defence spending. In his view, a trade war would hurt the EU more, because trade with the US accounts for a larger share of European GDP than of American GDP.

In his television commentary, Robev consistently describes tariffs as a “boomerang” and a hidden tax paid by consumers on both sides of the Atlantic. He argues that neither Washington nor Brussels wants a trade war, and notes that countries such as Bulgaria would be affected mainly indirectly, through the large European economies they trade with.

Beyond trade, he raises the question of competitiveness. In 2025, in “Regulation versus innovation: can the EU become an AI leader?”, Robev argued that regulation has crowded out innovation in the EU, and saw Europe’s opportunity in people – its large pool of new IT specialists. He applies similar reasoning to carmakers: they can succeed only through speed, software and partnerships, including with Chinese companies.