Vladislav Grigoriev15:44, 21.02.25

Europe fears that Trump will not support NATO’s Article 5, which obliges members of the Alliance to collectively defend themselves in the event of an attack by other countries.

German Chancellor candidate and Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz believes that Europe must be prepared to defend itself without the United States, Politico reports .

“We have to be prepared for the fact that Donald Trump will no longer unconditionally support NATO’s mutual defense commitments. So I think it is extremely important that the Europeans do their utmost to ensure that we are at least capable of defending the European continent on our own,” he told reporters.

The publication noted that in recent days, US President Donald Trump has increasingly shown solidarity with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, blaming Ukraine for starting the war. These comments followed US Vice President J.D. Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference, in which he called the main European parties a greater threat to European security than Russia.

The publication added that since then, European leaders have become increasingly concerned that they can no longer rely on the United States and NATO’s collective defense. Merz therefore calls on European allies to pay attention. He emphasized that he is not entirely sure that the Trump administration will support NATO’s Article 5, which obliges members of the alliance to collective defense in the event of an attack by other countries.

Merz also answered a question from journalists about whether Germany should seek protection under France’s nuclear umbrella. He acknowledged that French President Emmanuel Macron had made such an offer to Berlin on several occasions, but it had gone unanswered.

“We need to discuss with the British and the French, the two European nuclear powers, whether the nuclear divide, or at least the nuclear safety of Britain and France, can also extend to us,” Merz said.

(c)UNIAN 2025