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Politico questions Europe’s ability to defend itself without US

It is reported that following Trump’s loss to Biden in the 2020 presidential election, "it seemed like everything had gone back to normal"

© AP Photo/Francisco Seco

BRUSSELS, February 13. /TASS/. The European Union won’t be able to ensure its security without help from the US, and it would be a tall task for Europe to replace what the US does for NATO, Matthew Karnitschnig, correspondent of the European version of the Politico newspaper wrote.

"Whether the Europeans even have it in themselves to come together and defend themselves without Washington’s guiding hand. History suggests they will just revert to type and descend into chaos," the author believes.

He noted that following Trump’s loss to Biden in the 2020 presidential election, "it seemed like everything had gone back to normal."

"Biden, a lifelong transatlanticist, sought to repair the damage Trump did to NATO by letting the Europeans slide back into their comfort zone," Karnitschnig says.

He thinks that "Europe was lulled back into a false sense of security by Biden’s warm embrace," and that EU countries were unable to fulfill their arms commitments. "Europe nestled itself in America’s skirts," the journalist states.

According to him, "even if Europe does wake up to the realities it faces, it may well be too late."

"Replacing the American capability NATO would lose without the U.S. would take decades and untold billions," the author says. According to him, to date "most European leaders haven’t even accepted the cold reality that American protection is already effectively gone."

On February 10, former American leader Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, speaking to his supporters in South Carolina, recalled a meeting he had with a leader from a NATO country. According to him, at that time this certain president asked him whether the United States would defend the alliance if Russia attacked a member country that did not make defense contributions to NATO. Trump replied that he would not defend such a country and, moreover, would encourage Russia to do "whatever the hell they want" to any NATO member country that doesn’t meet spending commitments on defense. The ex-president did not specify when and where this conversation took place, or which EU leader he talked to.

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