Wednesday, 26 August 2026Europe
Independent · Brussels & Berlin
World · page 7 of 7
SIPRI data shows European NATO members spent $693 billion last year, yet experts warn the money will take years to translate into deployable force and may duplicate existing systems.
Brussels says no improvement in human rights situation despite Beijing's move to ease retaliatory sanctions on European Parliament members imposed in 2021.
A series of shocks in February 2025 forced European leaders to confront the possibility that Washington is no longer a reliable partner, triggering frantic diplomacy and a scramble for strategic autonomy.
Brussels still operates from a 2019 framework that called Beijing partner, competitor and rival simultaneously. With Washington turning inward, the cost of that ambiguity is now measurable in a €304.5 billion trade gap.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Brussels insisting American commitment to NATO remains ironclad, but French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the alliance is being tested by President Trump's latest decisions, while European capitals quietly prepare for a possible US troop drawdown.
US Secretary of State tells Brussels the alliance is rock-solid while President Trump slaps 20% tariffs on EU goods and demands defence spending that would require a command economy.
Alexander Stubb argues Europe needs a single negotiating figure while defending Finland's defence contributions against US criticism of freeloading.
Four of five parliamentary parties unite behind centre-right Democrats, excluding only the pro-independence Naleraq, hours before JD Vance visits Pituffik Space Base.
First post-Assad conference falls short of last year's 7.5 billion as US aid retreats; interim Syrian government attends for first time amid renewed sectarian violence
The alliance's strategic concept still names Russia as its principal threat, yet its largest member now echoes Kremlin talking points. With the June summit in The Hague approaching, Europeans are building alternatives while trying to keep the US inside the tent.
European leaders meeting in London pledged to build security guarantees for Ukraine after Trump ruled out US commitments, but the military and financial gap left by Washington is vast.
Britain and France advance a stabilisation force proposal without American security guarantees, leaving European troops exposed if Russia violates a ceasefire.
British Army at 70,000 regulars; Russia spends 6.7% of GDP on defence. European leaders meet this weekend to decide whether to deploy up to 30,000 troops without American security guarantees.
Germany's incoming chancellor says his priority is independence from the US after Trump's statements weaken collective defence assumptions. European capitals scramble to fill a capability gap the Americans have filled for decades.
Vice President Vance's Munich speech, U.S.-Russia talks excluding Kyiv, and a UN vote aligning Washington with Moscow signal a fundamental shift in the security architecture that has underpinned Europe since 1949.
Pete Hegseth says Washington will no longer be primarily focused on European security, rules out NATO membership for Ukraine and demands allies double defence budgets.
German defence minister says Europe must shoulder more security burden regardless of US administration, while permanent Bundeswehr deployment to Lithuania targets 2027 combat readiness.
With Germany's economy shrinking and the EU-US trade surplus at €15.4 billion, European leaders scramble to manage an unpredictable US president who links tariffs to NATO commitments and threatens Greenland.
A former Hudson Institute fellow argues that historical precedent allows NATO to admit Ukraine while temporarily suspending collective defence guarantees over Russian-held land, removing Moscow's de facto veto on enlargement.
President-elect signals direct talks with Moscow within days of taking office, while demanding NATO allies raise defence spending to five percent of GDP.
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