The largest military powers in Europe are developing plans to gradually take on more responsibility for the defense of the continent instead of the United States.
This was reported by the Financial Times, citing four informed European officials.
The newspaper writes that this includes a proposal by the administration of US President Donald Trump to transfer these responsibilities to European states over the next five to ten years.
The discussions are an attempt to avoid chaos in the event of a unilateral US withdrawal from NATO, which has become a subject of concern due to Trump’s repeated threats to weaken or withdraw from the transatlantic alliance that has protected Europe for almost eight decades, the newspaper noted.
According to the four sources, the UK, France, Germany and Nordic countries are among the states involved in these informal but structured discussions.
Their goal is to develop a plan for transferring financial and military burdens to European capitals and present it to the United States before the annual NATO leaders’ summit in The Hague in June.
It is noted that the proposal will include firm commitments to increase European defense spending and military capabilities in order to convince Trump to agree to a gradual transfer of power, which would allow the United States to focus more on Asia.
In addition to its nuclear deterrent, which protects Europe with several European air forces armed with US nuclear weapons, the United States provides military capabilities that continental allies do not have, operates air, naval, and military bases, and maintains 80,000 troops in Europe.
Officials estimate that it would take five to ten years of increased spending to reach a level that would replace most US military capabilities (with the exception of nuclear deterrence).
“Increased spending is the only possible strategy: sharing the burden and reducing dependence on the United States. We have started these negotiations, but the task is so large that many feel overwhelmed,” said one official.
Coalition of the willing
While US diplomats have reassured their European counterparts that Trump remains committed to NATO membership and its fifth article on collective defense, many European leaders fear that the White House could quickly reduce troop or equipment deployments or reduce participation in NATO’s joint missions.
“You need to negotiate with the Americans, and it’s not clear that they will want to do that. Can you even trust them to honor it?” said another official.
The interlocutors also pointed to the ongoing and regular discussions between France and Britain about creating a “coalition of the willing” as an indicator of the direction of future developments.
When asked what a European backbone in NATO means and whether it is possible, one of the officials replied: “We see it happening. We see it happening right now: The UK and France are taking the initiative [on peacekeeping forces for Ukraine] without the Americans.”
The so-called “coalition of the willing,” which is preparing the groundwork for guaranteeing a future post-war settlement, met in early March in London.
In early March, the United States informed NATO allies that it intended to stop participating in the planning of future military exercises in Europe.
