Wir sind in gefährlicher Weise darauf angewiesen, dass Trump Putin aufhält

Proximity to Russia helps focus the mind. After breathless warnings that Nato is on life support following the US capture of Venezuelan president [Nicolás Maduro](https://inews.co.uk/topic/nicolas-maduro-2?ico=in-line_link) – as well as [Donald Trump](https://inews.co.uk/topic/donald-trump?ico=in-line_link)’s threats towards Greenland – Poland’s president said this week that “Trump is the only world leader capable of stopping [Vladimir Putin](https://inews.co.uk/topic/vladimir-putin?ico=in-line_link) from threatening Europe”.

Karol Nawrocki is not alone in giving such a sober assessment. German Chancellor [Friedrich Merz](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/germanys-far-right-afd-party-on-track-for-historic-vote-share-with-20-3550099?ico=in-line_link) said last May that “Europe cannot substitute or replace what the Americans still do for us”.

The recent US [National Security Strategy](https://inews.co.uk/opinion/us-potent-threat-europe-no-one-alive-this-4102012?ico=in-line_link) was clear that Europe “remains strategically and culturally vital to the United States”, along with transatlantic trade. Accordingly, the US retains around 100,000 service personnel in Europe and routinely deploys more for military exercises, while US nuclear bombers regularly remind the Kremlin of US security guarantees.

But this doesn’t mean that US defence arrangements in Europe cannot be changed.

Post Venezuela, think-tank chatter is that Trump’s America has abandoned Europe and will allow Putin a free hand in his “near abroad”. This is far-fetched, yet in an age of unsentimental realpolitik, the UK and Europe [must learn to take primary responsibility](https://inews.co.uk/opinion/make-no-mistake-trump-declared-war-on-europe-4085898?ico=in-line_link) for their own conventional defence and deterrence.

It is burden-sharing with the US rather than nostalgia that will keep us safe, especially as the US seeks to re-order its security priorities to confront China, which it perceives to be a peer competitor.

Trump’s defence secretary said last year that, while the US remains committed to Nato and to its defence partnership with Europe, Washington would “no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependency. Rather, our relationship will prioritise empowering Europe to own responsibility for its own security”.

The US’s new security strategy [calls on Europe to display more self-confidence](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/russia-praises-trump-national-security-strategy-europe-horror-4092365?ico=in-line_link) with respect to Russia. It assesses Russia to be a declining, regional power, albeit one which continues to want to dismantle the West’s collective defence system and re-assert its dominance over eastern Europe. It also said that Europe enjoys “a significant hard power advantage over Russia by almost every measure, save nuclear weapons”.