The European Union must be prepared to take responsibility for its own defense, as the United States is gradually stepping back from its security commitments, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said.
Her remarks signaled that the bloc should strengthen its military capabilities amid growing tensions with US President Donald Trump.
“The threat posed by Russia will not go away, and we know that the American focus will increasingly shift towards other regions. So, there is no doubt, peace in Europe requires that we take much greater responsibility for our own defense,” von der Leyen said in a speech at the European People’s Party congress in Valencia, Spain, on Tuesday.
In March, von der Leyen unveiled a plan to raise €800 billion ($910 billion) to “rearm” the EU, as several member states look for ways to reduce reliance on US-led security arrangements.
Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor-designate, said in February that Berlin must “gradually achieve independence from the US.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, who has long argued that the EU can no longer outsource its defense to Washington, has expressed openness to extending France’s nuclear umbrella to cover Germany and other EU members.
Trump has called on NATO members in Europe to contribute “a fair share” to collective defense. He has also refused to offer security guarantees to Ukraine or commit US troops to a potential peacekeeping mission.
Moscow has warned that the EU’s military buildup will only escalate tensions. In an interview with TASS published on Tuesday, Nikolay Patrushev, a security adviser to President Vladimir Putin, accused Western countries of “deploying their military machine against Russia and becoming delirious with nuclear apocalypse scenarios.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov argued in March that the EU is willing to “sacrifice” its own economy “only to achieve the ideological goal of ‘defeating’ Russia.”
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