US President Donald Trump is using the leverage of US military power to weaken the European Union, said the leader of the European People's Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, quoted by “Politico“, reports News.bg.
“For the first time, we have a president who, as we saw this summer, is weakening Europe's economic power by playing the military card“, Weber said on German public television on Wednesday evening, referring to earlier talks on a trade agreement between the EU and the US. “Trump is clearly using this method to divide Europe and weaken Ursula von der Leyen's position in the negotiations.“
He stressed that Europe is too militarily dependent on the US and too weak on its own to resist the demands of the Trump administration and at the same time face the threat from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We are naked in a world of storms because we are not prepared for today's world“, said the EPP leader. “We were in a weak position during the trade deal… because half of Europe - the Balkans, Poland, Romania - is just really afraid of Putin. And the only thing that can protect them right now is American military power.“
Weber added that Europeans are already facing the difficult reality that “they cannot protect themselves from the drones that are coming“.
Moscow has been accused of violating NATO airspace several times in recent weeks, including in Poland and Estonia, marking a new phase of escalation between the West and Russia. On Thursday morning, major Danish airports were briefly closed after drones were spotted.
On trade, Weber expressed his desire for the EU and its chief negotiators to show more confidence in talks with Trump this summer, including by not backing down on a digital tax on US tech giants. However, he admitted that this was unrealistic due to the bloc's military dependence on the United States.
Weber called on the leaders of the 27 member states to strengthen the EU and show visionary leadership.
“If we had a Helmut Kohl and a François Mitterrand today, who created the euro back then, they would have paved the way for a European army,“ he said. “That kind of leadership, that kind of visionary approach, is missing at the moment.“
He said the task today was for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron.
“It must be said that all our senior politicians are so obsessed with national politics, so under pressure... that unfortunately we do not have a generation of leaders in power at the moment who are capable of taking the necessary big steps,“ Weber added.