Europeans, Canadians, and Ukrainians can no longer rely on the United States and should develop their own security and deterrence concept.
This opinion was expressed by Stefanie Babst, former Head of NATO’s Strategic Planning Unit.
"Since President Trump has made it clear that he is no longer a reliable partner for Europe, Europeans, Canadians, and Ukrainians need to develop a security and deterrence policy that will protect both Ukraine and Europe as a whole from the Russian regime, which continues its terror. If Trump keeps blocking Ukraine’s NATO membership, a Coalition of the Willing should provide other reliable security guarantees for Ukraine, including a military presence," Babst emphasized.
She stressed that European leaders have talked enough — it is time to act.
"The new German government cannot afford further words. It must truly act," the expert said.
Babst pointed out that the Kremlin took advantage of the fact that after the end of the Cold War, Germany and other NATO allies stopped paying proper attention to strengthening their military capabilities. Now, it is up to the new government to fix the situation.
For the past 70 years, NATO has been Germany’s "life insurance," Babst noted — without membership in the Alliance, Germans would not have been able to enjoy decades of peace, stability, and economic prosperity. However, after Germany had made significant military and financial contributions to NATO and maintained a high level of readiness and resilience during the Cold War, after its end Germans sank into the illusion of "peace dividends" and began to take security and freedom for granted.
"Germany’s contributions to NATO increasingly suffered from the gap between words and deeds: German politicians liked to talk about leadership within NATO, but they blatantly underfunded and weakened the Bundeswehr and shied away from confronting the terrorist regime in Moscow," Babst said.
In her view, the new government in Berlin, led by Chancellor Merz, must swiftly reverse this trend: it must decisively strengthen Germany’s Armed Forces, fully join the Coalition of the Willing in support of Ukraine, and actively engage in developing a concrete roadmap for the Europeanization of the Alliance.
