European nations are reportedly weighing a long-term plan to reduce reliance on the United States within NATO, following a series of remarks from President Donald Trump that have raised fresh doubts about America’s future in the alliance.
In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Donald Trump suggested the idea of the US leaving NATO is no longer off the table.
“Oh yes, I would say [it’s] beyond reconsideration… I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way,” he said, according to UNILAD.
NATO includes 32 member states, but America still plays an outsized role, contributing roughly 15.8 percent of the alliance’s annual budget. Now, behind the scenes, some European countries are beginning to prepare for a future where that support may no longer be guaranteed.
Could take years
According to a report by the The Wall Street Journal, discussions are underway about what has been described as a potential “European NATO,” which would allow member states to gradually replace key US military capabilities with their own.
The idea is not to replace NATO entirely, officials involved in the talks reportedly stress, but to strengthen Europe’s ability to respond independently. Still, the scale of that shift would be massive.
The Financial Times previously reported that it could take between five and ten years of increased defense spending for European nations to match most of the capabilities currently provided by the US. Some proposals include a phased transition over roughly a decade.
“Increasing spending is the only play that we have: burden sharing and shifting the dial away from US reliance,” one source told the outlet, according to UNILAD. “We’re starting those talks but it’s such a big task that many are overwhelmed by the scale of it”
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