Eastern European countries, positioned on NATO’s frontline with Russia, are seeking to strengthen rather than loosen ties with Washington. “There is a way within NATO, in our bilateral conversations, that we enhance what we can do together… I think as long as there are more anchors to the defense and security partnership, we’re going to see it continue strongly,” Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Silvia Țoiu said at a briefing in Washington.
Romania, which borders Ukraine and the Black Sea, has faced Russian drone incursions into its airspace during the war in neighbouring Ukraine and saw its 2024 presidential election annulled over alleged Russian interference, drawing criticism from U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the 2025 Munich Security Conference. Philip Gordon, the Sydney Stein, Jr., Scholar at the Brookings Institution and a former senior adviser in the Biden administration, said of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s upcoming appearance in Munich: “That’s not to say that everything is hunky dory with Secretary Rubio, as opposed to others like Vance, but he is just less associated with the view that Vice President Vance articulated in the previous Munich, which was essentially… that threats to Europe are not Russia and China but internal press freedoms and that sort of thing.”
By contrast, Canada, Denmark and France are considering ways to reduce reliance on the United States, with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen writing on Facebook ahead of Trump’s Davos speech: “I am happy for the consistent messages from the rest of the continent: Europe is not blackmailed.” French President Emmanuel Macron has warned against “a cowardly sense of relief” after the latest tensions with Washington, declaring a “geopolitical and geo-economic state of emergency” and, as described by The Economist, viewing the U.S. administration as “openly hostile” and seeking Europe’s “dismemberment.”
The European Parliament has backed a resolution to prioritise defence production within the continent and with “key bilateral partners” in response to “the risks posed by the shifting focus of U.S. foreign policy.” “The strategic reorientation of the U.S. means that Member States need to invest more and close critical capability gaps, deepening defence cooperation with other NATO countries like the UK, Norway, and Canada,” Polish MEP Michał Szczerba said, adding: “Real strategic autonomy depends on partnerships that help deliver concrete capabilities, interoperability, deterrence, and resilience.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte cautioned those who believe Europe could defend itself without U.S. backing to “keep dreaming”, a view echoed by Baltic leaders visiting Washington. “I don’t see it as realistic that the European industry and efforts can step up fast enough to have full autonomy on that [defense],” Țoiu said, while Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys wrote before his trip: “Without the USA, Europe is indefensible.”
Budrys rejected predictions of a complete U.S. withdrawal, telling The Hill: “I think that is one, big, bold lesson we learned during this year working with President Trump’s administration is that we can find a solution, we can find a form of a deal that is beneficial to both sides to meet interests of the United States and also European countries.” He added: “In Europe, we should use the opportunity and look into the mirror and be open with what we have there. We lack unity, so we have to be stronger… we still lack the credible defense capabilities, so we have to build those,” as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned that “Allies that still fail to do their part for collective defense will face consequences.”
Source: The Hill.
