Countries seeking to join the European Union should cut ties with U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said, Euroactiv reports.

“We must not allow our future members to create dependencies on other powers that run counter to our long-term interests,” Kos said on Tuesday at an event hosted by the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels.

According to her, for the first time in the history of the EU enlargement process, the European Union has acquired “opponents.” Asked whom exactly she meant, Kos replied: “Obviously, Russia is one of them.”

However, the commissioner said, the EU is also facing “pressure from the West” from “MAGA ideologues” who are trying to convince Europeans that European civilization and the economy are in decline, and that democracy in the EU allegedly falls short of accepted standards.

Kos’s statement came amid stepped-up efforts by the Trump administration to strengthen political and economic ties with the countries of the Western Balkans, many of which are seeking to join the EU.

In its National Security Strategy published last year, the Trump administration accused the EU of undermining “political freedom and sovereignty.” The document also stated an intention to support resistance to “Europe’s current course” through cooperation with right-wing “patriotic parties” in the bloc’s member states.

Kos also drew a distinction between the influence of the United States and China. According to her, Beijing is primarily seeking to strengthen economic ties with candidate countries, expecting to benefit after they join the EU.

“China is, in a way, settling into our candidate countries, going there and waiting for these countries to become EU members, because after accession their companies will become part of the single market,” she said. At the same time, Kos noted that, unlike Russia, China is not yet using comparable disinformation campaigns in the region.

American investment in the countries of the Western Balkans has also grown markedly in recent months. Trump-linked company AAFS is considering investments of more than €2 billion in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbia has signed agreements with the United States on exclusive cooperation in the field of investment and hopes to build the new Đerdap 3 hydroelectric power plant using exclusively American companies.

Protests are taking place in Albania over a hotel resort project linked to Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. The project is planned for the territory of a protected wetland area.

Montenegro, considered one of the frontrunners among countries seeking EU membership, has also been actively drawing the attention of U.S. authorities in recent months.