NATO's European allies already prepare the US military withdrawal

BrusselsDonald Trump's threats to withdraw US military capabilities from Europe were serious. The Pentagon has reported that it intends to reduce its presence on the European continent to the rest of NATO allies, and European countries are preparing and organizing to replace and fill the defense gaps that the North American power will leave, according to diplomatic sources from the Atlantic Alliance. In fact, several European allies have already put on the table what capabilities they can contribute and how they can contribute to Europe's security.

was a reaction to the words of the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merzwas in reaction to the words of the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who assured that Iran had "humiliated" the US. A move that surprised European allies, and which internally they criticized for the US president's retaliatory tone and because they had not been informed through the usual channels beforehand.

The same diplomatic sources from NATO explain that it is not only foreseen that the United States will carry out a readjustment of the presence of soldiers on European territory, but also of the capabilities deployed there on the ground and, above all, of those it currently makes available to European allies in case they need them. In this regard, the main military capabilities that the Pentagon provides to European allies and which European industry is currently unable to produce are mainly related to intelligence, air defense equipment, and, among others, latest-generation combat aircraft.

In fact, the European arms industry is facing serious obstacles in improving coordination between European arms companies and manufacturing military equipment, which European allies are currently forced to import from the United States. The latest news that has confirmed these complications is the failure of the fighter jet that companies from France, Germany, and Spain were to manufacture jointly. Ultimately, however, disagreements between Paris and Berlin have sunk one of the flagship projects of the long-awaited union of the European arms industry, which is intended to allow European allies to stop depending on the Pentagon.

The large military spending

Despite the withdrawal of the United States, diplomatic sources from NATO assure that the path of increasing military spending by the allies, agreed upon at the Hague summit last year, remains intact. In this way, European partners rule out having to make a new extra effort to please Trump or to fill the gaps that the army of the North American power will leave on the continent. It should be remembered that the pact among allies is that by 2035 they must allocate at least 3.5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) to defense. Currently, however, the average spent by European partners is around 2.3%, according to the latest data provided by the Atlantic Alliance itself.

In fact, this great rearmament of Europe is being carried out to reduce dependence on the United States in military matters and, therefore, it was already part of the preparation for the hypothetical scenario of a withdrawal of US capabilities from the European continent. For this reason, the same diplomatic sources from NATO rule out that the military spending path has to be renegotiated now that the US army is beginning to slowly abandon Europe.

In contrast, one of the main discussions expected to take place at this Thursday's Defense ministerial in Brussels and the annual NATO summit on July 7 and 8 in Ankara is what each ally will contribute to orderly and coordinated replacement of the military capabilities that the United States is withdrawing. Furthermore, NATO state authorities will hold meetings with leaders of armament companies to try to attract more private capital to Europe's major rearmament and, above all, to boost the European war industry. All of this, with the United States pressuring European administrations not to stop buying weapons from them and to roll back the European Union's initiatives to prioritize the acquisition of military equipment manufactured in Community territory.