After the publication of the new US National Security Strategy, Europe finds itself at a “strategic crossroads“ – between preserving transatlantic security and pursuing an independent course in the new realities of international politics, The New York Times writes.
This week, the US administration published an updated National Security Strategy that calls on European countries to take “primary responsibility“ for their own defense. The United States should no longer guarantee Europe's security, it said.
Among the priorities of US policy towards Europe is to enable it to "stand on its own two feet and act as a group of united sovereign states, including by assuming primary responsibility for its own defence."
In addition, Washington accused the European Union of suppressing "political freedom" and warned of the risk of some NATO members becoming "primarily un-European."
The former president of the European Commission, the EU's top executive, Romano Prodi, told the newspaper that so far there had been "no systematic response" to the US and expressed hope that the bloc would "develop policies" that would make it more assertive. "This does not mean severing ties with the United States." It means having a voice,“ he said.