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On Sunday foreign ministers from the 28 EU countries will hold talks in Brussels on the impact of a president who has previously questioned the decades-old transatlantic pact to defend the continent."But a Trump administration will increase US isolationist tendencies, which is a further blow to this leadership role.Trumps apparent closeness to Russia will also be ringing alarm bells in Europe as it debates whether to keep up sanctions over the Ukraine crisis and looks for solutions to the conflict in Syria."Leadership blowSoul-searching has been the order of the day in Brussels ever since the body-blow of Britains vote in June to become the first country to leave the EU in its 60-year history.

That "civilisation" has seen both sides of the Atlantic broadly sharing the same commitment to the free market and liberal democracy, with America propping up Europes defences.Brexiteer-in-chief Nigel Farage exults over what many others fear.Both Germanys Angela Merkel and Frances Francois Hollande have called on Trump to uphold democratic values in a sign of Europes concerns.But so far the EUs main response has been its time-honoured one: call more meetings. France holds presidential elections next year and far-right leader Marine Le Pens chances of pulling off a Trump-like coup are suddenly being taken more seriously.Officials insist the bloc is more resilient than it is given credit for -- just as the EUs founding father Jean Monnet wrote in his memoirs that "Europe will be forged in crises".Tusk warned at the time that the "Western political civilisation" that has kept Europe at peace since World War II was now at risk.Brussels, Belgium: The European Unions founders believed its unity would be forged in crisis, but after Brexit and the election of Donald Trump the bloc and the geopolitical order that underpin it look shakier than ever.Another EU official added: "We dont know what to expect and that is the reality. "There are plenty more shocks to come."The timing is increasingly urgent.Until now.With populists on the rise, Russia an increasingly menacing presence to the east, the migration crisis and the endless fallout from the eurozone debt crisis, many fear perpetual turmoil.But Trumps election has made it harder to regroup, given that Europe -- while trying to stay pragmatic in dealing with Washington -- has no idea what to really expect from the billionaire."I have not had anyone teary on my shoulder -- but everyone is saying What does it mean? and everyone is trying to interpret it," one wholesale chemical anchors European diplomat said on condition of anonymity. "One wonders how many wake-up calls the Europeans actually need to do something.Far-right parties are also hoping for a boost in polls in the Netherlands and Austria, while Merkel, increasingly taking a role as the EUs moral anchor, is up for re-election. Analysts say that is not enough."Dont think that the democratic revolution is over," he tweeted.

A lot was said during the campaign that, if made into policy, would represent a serious change to US foreign policy."Europeans are muddling through," Judy Dempsey of the Carnegie Europe think-tank told a seminar this week. 2017 may surprise us as much as 2016.Trump and Brexit are at least being seen in some quarters as an opportunity to boost EU unity, with the blocs foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini saying it can be a "superpower" for peace and pushing with long-stalled plans for an EU army. Trumps campaign threats to abandon the collective defence pledge that is the bedrock of the NATO military alliance was a major shock for Europe and now the EU is wondering what next.EU President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday that the events of 2016 were a "warning sign for all who believe in liberal democracy", and urged Europe to "finally get our act together"."."The post-Second World War global leadership role of Western liberal democracy was already challenged," Fabian Zuleeg of the European Policy Centre think-tank said."Plenty more shocksRattled European leaders have issued calls, after both Brexit and the Trump win, for Europe to seize its own destiny and tackle what they have dubbed a "polycrisis"