Europe’s ‘painful’ realisation it must be bolder with US set out in security report

Europe has come to the painful realisation that it needs to be more assertive and more militarily independent from an authoritarian US administration that no longer shares a commitment to liberal democratic norms and values, a report prepared by the Munich Security Conference asserts.The report sets the scene for an all-out ideological confrontation with the Trump White House at the high-level annual meeting of security policy specialists, which starts on Friday.In a now infamous speech to last year’s MSC, the US vice-president, JD Vance, claimed European elites were suppressing free speech and “opening the floodgates” to mass migration. The address marked the moment Europe realised the Trump administration would no longer be a reliable trading and security partner.Since then European leaders and Donald Trump’s team have waged a series of running battles over topics including the US push to force Ukraine to make territorial concessions to Russia, Trump’s threats to seize Greenland, and a series of protectionist US measures ranging from tariff barriers to inward investment bans.People take part in a protest in Nuuk against Donald Trump’s threats to seize Greenland. Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesThe divide was starkly set out in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month by the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, who warned of a rupture between the US and its western allies.Vance’s assessment of Europe’s decline was reinforced in the latest US national security strategy, which accused European leaders of overseeing “civilisational erasure”. More recently, Trump disparaged the courage with which European members of Nato fought in Afghanistan, remarks that caused deep offence among Europe’s military leaders.Vance is not expected in Munich this year, but the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and a congressional delegation are scheduled to attend.Polling commissioned for the report shows Europeans are increasingly willing to operate without US leadership and say it is no longer necessary.The MSC report accuses Trump of having a lust for destruction and of siding with Vladimir Putin. “Most of Europe is watching the United States’ descent into ‘competitive authoritarianism’ with rising concern or even horror, wondering how resilient US democracy really is,” the report says.A mural in Kraków, Poland, depicts Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin seated at a table next to a map of a divided Ukraine. Photograph: Artur Widak/NurPhoto/ShutterstockThe report says the US has turned away from the liberal principles that have buttressed the postwar order and that Washington may be bringing about a post-American order. “While proponents of President Trump’s policies believe that they will ‘make America great again’, critics argue that they essentially amount to the ‘suicide of a superpower’,” it says.European leaders have realised that dependence on the US military and accommodation is reaching its limits, the report adds.“Europeans recently had to acknowledge it is nearly impossible to reject trade deals that are at odds with the rules of open trade or speak out against blatant violations of other countries’ sovereignty if one is heavily dependent on the military assistance of the country that is using coercive tactics and slashing existing norms,” it says. “For Europeans and some of their partners in the Indo-Pacific, who have long relied on Washington to do the heavy lifting of defending their interests, this is a particularly painful realisation.”JD Vance speaks during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference last February. Photograph: Matthias Schräder/APThe MSC report suggests European leaders need to adapt to the techniques of the Trump administration and be more daring in how they make decisions and communicate. “Effectively pushing back against the demolition men requires much more political courage and innovative thought. The actors defending international rules and institutions need to be just as bold as the actors who seek to destroy them,” it says.The report adds that “relying on sterile communiqués, predictable conferences, and cautious diplomacy” in a world where the opponents have become more ruthless and much more innovative is a recipe for failure.“In an era of wrecking-ball politics, those who simply stand by are at constant risk of entombment. And given the amount of demolition already happening, it is no longer enough to only engage in reactive, small-scale efforts to reconstruct the old status quo. Those who oppose the politics of destruction have to fortify essential structures, draw up new, more sustainable designs, and become bold builders themselves. Too much is at stake. In fact, everything is at stake.”Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the European council president, António Costa. Photograph: Nicolas Tucat/AFP/Getty ImagesThe report also pushes back against Vance’s claim that European elites have become authoritarian censors. It says: “While leading figures in the Trump administration have accused the European Union and individual European governments of censorship and Ukraine of not living up to democratic values, they have largely refrained from any harsh criticism of Moscow, despite Russia’s continued domestic repression and international aggression.“The new US national security strategy does not even include a section devoted to Russia. While the Biden administration considered its support for Ukrainian self-defence against Russian aggression as both a strategic interest and a moral duty, Trump and his team often display an unsettling affinity for Russian president Vladimir Putin.”