PARIS — European nations will have to make up for the United States’ potential disengagement from Europe’s security after NATO-skeptic Donald Trump’s election win — but the Continent’s capitals have already made significant progress in that direction, top ministers from France and Germany said Wednesday.
“With the new U.S. president’s political outlook diverging from that of his predecessors, we need to manage this situation, prepare for it and underline the efforts we are already making,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters after meeting with his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu following Trump’s big victory.
Washington’s “attention” is likely to shift more toward the Indo-Pacific region where China is seen as a key strategic rival, he said. “By doing so, they’ll be able to do less in Europe. We need to fill this gap to be more credible in terms of deterrence,” he added.
His comments came only a few hours before the German coalition collapsed Wednesday night. Pistorius is a member of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party.
The two ministers met in Paris Wednesday evening at Pistorius’ request to discuss the fallout of Trump’s reelection, as the potential consequences of his victory for Europe’s security and NATO’s future are massive. Earlier Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the war in Ukraine and the escalating conflict in the Middle East with the U.S. president-elect.
During his first term, Trump frequently accused European nations of freeloading off of American military might and for underspending on defense, particularly targeting Germany.
Trump even said on the campaign trail he would “encourage” Russia to attack any NATO member country that didn’t meet its financial obligations to the defense alliance.
Both ministers — whose respective countries reached NATO’s target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense only this year — were keen to showcase their respective input to Europe’s security. In a coincidentally timed move Wednesday, the German Cabinet signed off on plans to introduce a form of mass recruitment for voluntary military service starting in 2025.
Lecornu called on European countries to continue their rearmament efforts — including his own, which is facing major budgetary constraints. He said Paris would push for NATO to take a harder look at the allies’ actual military contributions — warplanes, warships, troops — instead of only the 2 percent figure. “Budget curves don’t protect, deter and defend, real contributions do,” he said.
Pistorius added that the United States would remain an important ally, but highlighted that Europe cannot afford to let “military capability gaps grow.”
Both ministers urged European nations to remain united and announced they would soon invite their Italian, Polish and U.K. counterparts to meet and discuss how to proceed in order to “strengthen our sovereignty, be sufficiently united, leave our egoisms behind,” Pistorius said.
“Ukraine will need our unfailing support,” he added.
Trump has promised to end the war in Ukraine “very quickly” if he wins the election, thanks to his self-proclaimed “very good relationship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, prompting fears he would force Kyiv into an unfavorable peace deal with Moscow.
Joshua Posaner contributed to this report from Berlin. Clea Caulcutt contributed to this report.
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