“EU Needs Nuclear Umbrella”
Spice: Europe not quite ready for Trump's return
January 1, 2024, 5:36 am
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If Donald Trump returns to the White House, Carlo Masala sees black news for Europe. The military expert concludes that the time for serious preparations has already passed. He calls for concrete measures to ensure the security of the continent.
Military expert Carlo Masala believes Europe is largely unprepared for the return of Donald Trump as US president. “Neither the federal government nor the rest of Europe is making any serious preparations for this. We have already missed the right time,” Funke, a political scientist at the Bundeswehr University in Munich, told the media group's newspapers.
Europe must guarantee the security of the continent in a completely different situation. “Trump will say to the European NATO countries: You have to spend more money now or we will withdraw your protection,” he predicted. “We are no longer talking about two percent of our respective economic output, but significantly more.”
Masala added: “Trump will probably only offer bilateral security guarantees, but not through alliances. Only states that meet his demands will be under US protection – for example in relation to defense spending.” European countries that do not participate will be without US security guarantees. “It would be fundamentally threatening.”
“We need a European nuclear umbrella”
“If the Americans no longer guarantee security, we need a European nuclear umbrella,” Masala demanded. He suggested examining “the extent to which France is interested in paying for its national nuclear power with other money.” France's nuclear strategy has so far been purely national. “Perhaps it would be possible to change this so that France would be prepared to defend neighboring European countries with its nuclear weapons in certain circumstances.”
Masala advocated bringing Great Britain, the second European nuclear power, on board. “It no longer belongs to the EU,” he said. “But for countries like Poland or Romania, the idea of relying solely on the French nuclear umbrella would be unacceptable.” However, Masala said there would be no nuclear suitcase stored in Brussels or “traveling back and forth between European capitals”. Such demands are absurd.
“We cannot guarantee long-term support for Ukraine. In this case, aggressive Russia will prevail,” Masala said. A Russian victory would permanently destabilize Europe's security — both in foreign policy and domestic policy.
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