Stronger Together: Europe and the Question of Defence
Here’s what he said:
In addition to his very questionable and, in fact, downright wrong comments on Ukraine […] Donald Trump did have some very valid points on the failure of the Europeans to mobilize and to spend enough for their own defense.
Brexit or no Brexit, the United Kingdom is the leading military power in Europe today and one on which, as the Americans appear to recede, the rest of Europe is much more dependent.
Germany has really turned a corner […] The lifting of the debt break is an absolutely crucial move, which will enable Germany to invest heavily in its own defense, and I hope also in the defense of Ukraine directly. Unlike almost any other European country, and certainly unlike any other large European country, Germany has the fiscal headspace to do that.
The root of any European unification has to be the defense dimension. Historically, unions have come about when polities or groups of polities have been under severe pressure from outside.
My anxiety is that in the short to medium term, the best might be the enemy of the good […] What we need to do now is to mobilize quickly and to use the vectors that we do have.
Populism of both the left and the right are a severe threat. I see them as a threat primarily because they do not seem to have any understanding of the external challenges facing the Union beyond immigration […] I see these populist movements as a threat to the idea of a united Europe.