The National Interest: Can Europe Defend Itself?
Continental defense will require a shift in thinking in both Brussels and Washington, writes Lena Klink in The National Interest.
As calls for Europe to take charge of its own defense and security grow in Washington, Brussels is trembling in response.
But a shift in how both sides of the Atlantic view each other’s position could transform the EU from a mere US vassal to a more capable and self-reliant ally.
The prospect of a second Trump presidency, and Vance as vice president has EU leaders worried about the bloc’s security once again.
The 2016-2021 debates about the EU’s complete reliance on NATO and the US for its defense have clearly not reached a satisfactory conclusion.
In 2016, NATO defense spending as a percentage of GDP rose for the first time in seven years.
Russia’s neighbors Sweden and Lithuania reintroduced or extended compulsory military service.
In Brussels, a review of the European Defense Action Plan introduced the need for the Union to aim for strategic autonomy for Europe, and the EU increased its military spending and formalized its military cooperation structure accordingly.
Between 2018 and 2021, Brussels also initiated the creation of the European Defense Funds, enabling the EU to collectively finance its protection and requiring member states to allocate at least 20% of their defense budget to equipment, and 2% to technological development, allocating 90 million Euros to EU-wide defense research funding from 2016 to 2020 specifically and 13 billion Euros between 2021 and 2027 to defense-industrial policy more generally.
Changes in military cooperation among member states have included efforts to coordinate military spending and identify common security policy projects.
Such a willingness to cooperate, and to increase spending, suggests that the EU is ready to become more than just “America’s pet at least for now”.
The political climate on the continent’s borders has pushed the EU toward an independent security strategy, especially in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump’s statements describing NATO as obsolete and unable to meet its spending targets have made a change to the seven-decade-old security arrangement more likely.
This shift in focus on defense capabilities suggests that European security progress remains a reaction to threats to EU security.
The only thing preventing the old continent from developing self-protection is its leaders’ ideology, which focuses on relying on the United States and NATO for solid security guarantees.
US influence on the continent has long been aimed at keeping the EU dependent on the United States and preventing it from becoming a competent competitor.
In 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described European security as more than just a strategic interest, and an expression of our values, which we cannot and should never compromise.
However, after years of sweeping promises to protect Europe, which have sometimes been discouraging in building security capabilities, it seems unsurprising that European leaders are struggling with the task of strengthening the union’s ability to protect itself and rely less on the United States and NATO.
A real shift in Washington’s mindset from wanting to keep Europe subservient to genuine support for Europe as a more capable and equal ally to the United States is what the EU needs to begin the process of self-reliance in defense and security.
