European Parliament deputy speaker Katharina Barley has said that closer defence cooperation is needed to achieve EU independence in case Donald Trump becomes US president and “ditches Europe”.
“If Trump dumps Europe, the EU must be able to act,” Katharina Barley told Funke Media Group publications.
As the deputy chairwoman noted, Trump’s time in office has shown Europe that it must become strategically more independent of the US. According to her, “the EU must be more autonomous in security policy.”
“Increased joint procurement and production of military goods should already be the goal,” she emphasised.
If Trump becomes US President again, “the EU should stand on its own feet in terms of security policy,” Barley added.
We will remind, earlier Trump said that the countries of the European Union should provide financial and military assistance to Ukraine on a par with the United States.