Friedrich Merz’s dream of European “independence” from America will have to remain as such for quite some time, thanks to years of governments harming their own national defence capabilities.
Although this hardly needs spelling out to even the most casual observers of Continental affairs, the head of German defence firm Hensoldt highlighted this week the need—whether palatable or not—to remain close to the U.S.
Defence electronics CEO Oliver Doerre told journalists that there were “significant deficits in terms of capabilities” in the German army, adding that as a result, it was “essential to continue our trusted collaboration with the American industry.”
Never mind self-defence; one European diplomat even said earlier this month that the U.S. support would be essential for potential ‘peacekeeping’ forces in Ukraine because America has “capabilities that all of Europe lacks” (emphasis added).
Doerre, who served in the German military for more than two decades, stressed that
It will only be possible in the medium term for Germany and the EU to achieve autonomy in armaments without relying on American capabilities.
Doerre did not specify what was meant by “the medium term,” but it can fairly be assumed to be longer than the timeline Donald Trump’s administration requires for a full ceasefire in Ukraine.
The forced recognition of Europe’s reliance on America appears, at the very least, to have kicked leaders in Brussels and beyond into action, with much talk—and, as yet, little action—dedicated to the importance of increased defence spending.
On a side note, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer can hardly have been pleased to find out on Wednesday that Britain, like the U.S. and Turkey, has been shut out of the European Union’s €150 billion rearmament fund. Perhaps all his cosying up to Brussels—to the detriment of the nation’s hard-fought-for supposed return of sovereignty—has been for nothing.
