The News
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Monday that Europe’s security is at a “turning point” as European leaders scrambled to an emergency summit in Paris after the US appeared to radically shift its view toward its longstanding allies, and did not invite the bloc in talks over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
She added that now is the time for an “urgency mindset” and a surge in defense commitments. Her comments came hours after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would be prepared to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine following a potential ceasefire deal with Russia, becoming the first European leader to do so. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has also indicated potential ground support.
After President Donald Trump said the US had begun peace negotiations with Russia without consulting Ukraine or Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the creation of a European army, adding that the continent could no longer rely on Washington’s protection, Reuters reported.
Trump has derided Europe for a lack of commitment to its defense and has threatened to potentially remove American troops from the continent if weapons spending does not increase. On Friday, US Vice President JD Vance lambasted European powers over immigration and freedom of speech, in a speech that The Guardian said “laid bare the collapse of the transatlantic alliance.”
SIGNALS
Europe fears political backlash over defense spending
While the US has pushed for Europe to increase its defense spending, some of the continent’s largest economies will struggle to meet that demand, Reuters reported. Germany — which met its NATO target of spending 2% of its GDP in 2024, well below Trump’s call of 5% — has been fighting a recession for the last two years amid a political crisis. France is also fighting political and economic woes, and its foreign minister said Saturday, “We will have to face difficult days… to ensure this security.” Some analysts suggest that the EU could afford to take on higher public debt, which is proportionately much lower than the US. However, mainstream parties fear that slashing social spending to up the countries’ defenses will likely spur support for far-right parties, Reuters wrote.
European security challenged by new ‘post-American’ order
Recent developments are a “wakeup call” for Europe to realize that it “still needs the US… but Trump’s America no longer sees a need for Europe,” Bloomberg columnist Marc Champion argued. The US under Trump now sees Russia as a potential ally in a fight against global liberalism, a pivot “that has left the trans-Atlantic alliance clinically dead,” he wrote, forcing Europe to come up with its own security plan that is no longer reliant on Washington. The bloc’s leaders need to do whatever they can “to ensure their collective security in a post-America order,” Champion wrote.