EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said that the European Union must take greater responsibility for its security following Trump's recent demands for increased spending among members of the US-led coalition bloc.
US President Donald Trump has continuously reiterated claims of ending the Ukraine war with or without Zelensky's help.
This has raised alarms in the EU Security Council, which relies heavily on American assistance for its defence.
“NATO remains the foundation of our defence. But it is evident that we need a pan-European defence,” von der Leyen said in a press briefing in Lithuania.
“Modern warfare requires a scale, technology, and coordination too big for any one nation to handle alone,” she added, asking for more funding, “both public and private.”
She said a proposal focusing on the future of European defence will be put in front of the EU leaders in March in a bid to decrease the over-reliance on US-based technologies.
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Right before the Ukraine conflict broke out, the French president and the German chancellor were among the top vocal advocates for establishing an EU army.
Macron, in 2019, described NATO as “brain dead” and urged European leaders to pursue a policy of “strategic autonomy” from Washington, which has influenced security policy on the continent through NATO since the end of World War II.
One of the suggestions was to create a “true, European army” to independently strengthen continental security.
Though then-NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that the move would “weaken the connection between North America and Europe,” Italy supported the idea.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has argued that the bloc cannot have a credible foreign policy without a joint military.
The idea was rejected by several NATO member states, particularly from Europe, who said they wanted military and defence guarantees under the NATO leadership.
Despite setbacks, France, the only EU member that maintains its independent foreign policy, said the country would double its military budget and urged other EU states to follow suit, citing the possibility of dwindling US interest in European security after Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
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