The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy warned that due to the US undermining the foundations of transatlantic relations, Europe must urgently strengthen its own defense and make NATO "more European to maintain its strength."

Kaja Kallas said at a defense conference that the United States will continue to be a partner and ally of Europe, but no great power has ever survived by outsourcing its survival.

Tensions with the US escalated when President Donald Trump threatened to take over Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.

Before Kallas' remarks, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had said that if European lawmakers believed Europe could defend itself without the US, they should "continue to dream," a statement that sparked strong backlash.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barro touched on the secretary general's comments, saying, "No, dear Mark Rutte. Europeans can and must control their own security. Even the US agrees. This is the European pillar of NATO."

Kaja Kallas said under the Trump administration, Europe "is no longer the top priority in Washington," and the continent needs to change its thinking, shifting from national-level considerations to joint European action.

The head of the EU's foreign policy said that Washington's shift away from Europe "has been going on for some time" and added that it is structural, not temporary.

Twenty-three countries that are members of both the EU and NATO have a special responsibility to "align our efforts with NATO." Like Barro, she emphasized the importance of demonstrating how a "unique European pillar" adds value.

The recent rift between the US and Europe over Greenland highlighted the "structural shift" mentioned in Kallas' speech. After European allies opposed Trump's plan to take over this Arctic island, he threatened to impose tariffs on some of his closest European allies.

Last week, Mark Rutte was praised for easing tensions between Trump and European leaders when the US president abandoned his threats after meeting with the NATO chief during the Davos Forum. Trump said he was exploring the possibility of reaching a potential agreement with Greenland, although no details have been disclosed yet.

Last year, under pressure from Trump, NATO members pledged to increase their total spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, although part of it may be used for national infrastructure.

Rutte said Monday in the European Parliament that if Europe really wants to go it alone in defense, it must spend 10% of its economic output (GDP) on defense and establish its own nuclear capabilities.

In Rutte's view, breaking away from the US would "make us lose our ultimate guarantor of freedom, the US nuclear umbrella."

EU Defense Commissioner Andrews Kubilius, who attended the same conference as Kaja Kallas in Brussels, said that the US now expects Europe to take responsibility for its own defense because Americans will "reduce their presence on the European continent."

Europe is "a giant, but a sleeping one," and needs to be awakened. He added, "We must very quickly build our independence. Defense independence: no delay, no excuses."

President Vladimir Putin has long accused NATO of expansion, which poses a security threat to Moscow, and described Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as a response to this.

However, the increasingly aggressive Russia has prompted two other EU members, Sweden and Finland, to join the NATO alliance after the full-scale invasion.

The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine be prohibited from joining NATO in any future peace agreement.

Although joining the EU and NATO is part of Ukraine's constitution, it is considered highly unlikely that Kyiv will become a NATO member in the near future.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7600632637559996979/

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