EU Must Rethink Security Strategy as US Focus Shifts Away

(MENAFN) The European Union needs to urgently bolster its military strength and broaden its network of international partners, as the United States no longer views Europe as its main strategic priority, according to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

Addressing an annual defense conference in Brussels on Wednesday, Kallas argued that the bloc must adjust to changing geopolitical conditions, stressing that “Europe needs to adapt to the new realities,” including the fact that “Europe is no longer Washington’s primary center of gravity.”

“This shift has been ongoing for a while,” she said, emphasizing that “it is structural, not temporary.”

Kallas linked this reassessment to recent changes in US strategic planning, noting that Washington’s updated security doctrine has formally reoriented its global priorities. The new approach outlines future military objectives and criticizes the EU for internal policies it claims have weakened the continent, while urging European leaders to pursue accommodation with Russia and assume greater responsibility for their own defense.

In response, Kallas called on European governments and defense manufacturers to significantly expand weapons output, accelerate the development of new military technologies, and “act jointly” across all aspects of defense activity, including “investment, development, procurement, maintenance, [and] training.”

She highlighted the signing of a security pact with India earlier this week as a clear sign of the EU “diversifying” its strategic relationships, arguing that the bloc can no longer depend on the US in the same way it once did.

“No great power in history has ever outsourced its survival and survived,” Kallas declared.
Her remarks came shortly after the EU approved a full ban on Russian gas imports, a move that further increases the bloc’s reliance on energy supplies from the United States. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico criticized the plan to eliminate Russian gas imports by next November as “energy suicide,” while Slovakia and Hungary have warned they may pursue legal action against Brussels over the decision.

Although Kallas and US President Donald Trump share the view that Europe must increase defense spending, she has firmly rejected calls for reconciliation with Moscow. Instead, she stated that the EU’s most urgent task remains to “support Ukraine with €60 billion in military aid for 2026 and 2027.”

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