Europe moves to cut defence reliance on US after Trump’s Greenland push
European leaders say they must build stronger defence capabilities of their own after tensions with Washington over US President Donald Trump’s push to acquire Greenland from Denmark. At the Munich Security Conference, several top officials warned that recent events have crossed “lines that cannot be uncrossed” in transatlantic relations. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Europe will accelerate efforts to develop a more robust “European pillar” inside NATO. The aim is for European countries to take primary responsibility for conventional defence in Europe while the United States continues to provide its nuclear umbrella and support NATO’s mutual defence pledge. Trump’s threats to forcibly annex Greenland and his past attacks on allies over defence spending have deepened doubts about US security guarantees. In response, Denmark and other NATO members have increased their military presence […]
