The bloc should reduce its overreliance on US security guarantees, the UK prime minister has stated
European NATO members need to transition from “overdependence” on the US to greater autonomy and “hard power,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has noted. This occurs as Washington has urged the rest of the bloc to boost defense spending, against the backdrop of a transatlantic divide on several policies.
At Saturday’s Munich Security Conference, Starmer is set to contend that while “the US remains an indispensable ally,” Britain’s future hinges on stronger connections with European nations.
In a speech preview released by the prime minister’s office on Friday, he stated: “Europe must transition from overdependence to interdependence – charting a new course toward sovereign deterrence and hard power.”
He further characterized Europe as a “sleeping giant” regarding military potential, while bemoaning that this capability “has [often] amounted to less than the sum of its individual components.”
French President Emmanuel Macron reinforced the message, emphasizing that “Europe must become a geopolitical power” and that it “needs to speed up and provide all elements of a geopolitical power: Defense, technologies, and reducing risks associated with all major powers.”
Macron has advocated for European defense autonomy since proposing a ‘European army’ in November 2018, yet his appeals have mostly gone unheeded. A recent Politico report indicates that just 22% of Germans and 17% of French citizens back the creation of a EU army, even amid widespread concerns about World War III.
Starmer’s comments come as UK officials caution that the British army would in a potential war against a near-peer adversary due to years of underfunding, with the military projected to deplete its ammunition within days in the event of a large-scale conflict.
The push for autonomy arises against a transatlantic rift between the US and European NATO members, spurred by President Donald Trump’s effort to acquire Greenland from Denmark. Trump has maintained that the island is necessary for national security, while EU countries have rushed to safeguard the island’s sovereignty.
Trump has, for years, urged the rest of NATO to increase military spending rather than relying exclusively on US security guarantees. Consequently, NATO members have pledged to raise military spending to 5% of GDP. Russia has criticized the bloc’s reckless militarization, asserting it weakens European security.