With the increasingly likely return of Donald Trump, Manfred Weber urges the development of a European nuclear deterrent. According to the leader of the European People's Party, the EU must prepare for a war in which the bloc does not enjoy the support of the United States.

In an interview with Politico, Manfred Weber described Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as "the two people who will define the year 2024."

Trump's successes in Iowa and New Hampshire spooked union leaders. The former US president is remembered as a NATO skeptic in Europe, as he previously threatened that the US would not come to the defense of Europe if it was attacked.

"We would like to continue thinking about NATO, but we must also be strong enough to defend ourselves without it or in the event of Trump's election"

- said Weber in a telephone interview with the Brussels newspaper, which hirado.hu .

He added: "Regardless of who is elected in America, Europe must be able to stand on its own in terms of foreign policy and be able to defend itself."

With this statement, the politician reached the issue of European nuclear defense. NATO currently relies heavily on US nuclear warheads, which are deployed at six military air bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

Since the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Vladimir Putin has regularly issued veiled nuclear threats to the West, so according to the European politician, Europe must build a deterrent force and be able to defend itself.

"We all know that if the situation calls for it, nuclear weapons will decide"

he added.

For the time being, only one country within the EU could play a greater role in nuclear weapons, and that is France, with its approximately 300 nuclear warheads.

In 2020, Emmanuel Macron floated the idea of ​​a French-led nuclear deterrent. However, Germany never accepted this offer. France has pushed for talks with Berlin again in 2022, saying the offer remains on the table.

According to Weber, the time has come to bring up again the idea of ​​internationalizing the "force de frappe" (strike force in Hungarian).

The leader of the European People's Party said that he would like the European dimension of nuclear defense to be their long-term goal, but until that is realistic, we must consider Macron's offer and think about how France's nuclear arsenal could be embedded in the European structure.

Another European but non-EU nuclear power is Great Britain, which has just under 260 nuclear warheads.

"Perhaps it is time to start a constructive dialogue with our British friends after the years of Brexit"

Weber said.

"They also struggle with difficulties in guaranteeing their own safety. They are running out of money to operate their two aircraft carriers. They also have difficulty maintaining their capacities," he continued.

Source: POLITICO

Photo: MTI/EPA/Olivier Hoslet