We congratulate ourselves for intervening in Greenland by sending a few soldiers as a vanguard to show our determination. It is argued that this is thanks to the unity of the Europeans, but only eight countries participated, and Italy immediately said it would not join. The Eastern European countries, only interested in the Russian threat, also did not participate.
Then, in terms of armaments, it is very difficult. This involves having a real industrial and technological defense base, and also buying European. However, many countries, including the Danes threatened by the United States, continue to buy F-35s, planes on which the Americans retain control even after they are sold. All of this is problematic and could take a lot of time.
I fear that many Europeans remain in the same illusion, thinking: “Trump is just a parenthesis, we will return to normal. There will be the midterm elections, it will be the end of his absolute power.” Then, they will say “There are the 2028 elections”. But J.D. Vance could also win and he is not a friend of the Europeans, especially the European Union! It is the European Union that crystallizes hostilities. So for this reason, European autonomy will take time.
At the moment, Europe lacks logistical capabilities and intelligence resources – I know that the President of the Republic has stated that 40% of the intelligence provided to the Ukrainians is French, but I am not sure it is of the same quality. In terms of ammunition, we also lack resources. So there is a real problem in terms of armaments. Not to mention everything related to artificial intelligence and high technology, which the European Union does not have. This is where military autonomy stands.
To achieve military autonomy, we also need autonomy in the scientific and economic fields. And even though we are the world’s largest trading bloc, we need to have the will to use the tools we have, such as the instrument of coercion. When Donald Trump summoned the Europeans represented by Ursula von der Leyen to his golf course in Scotland, we bowed without negotiating.
What made Donald Trump back down with China is that China said no. Certainly, China has economic weight. But if there is an area where Europeans should stand equally with the United States, it is in the economic field. And we have not done that.
So we are far from it. I believe there is an obvious awareness that this is an absolute priority for Europeans. But it won’t happen tomorrow.
France, as we have seen, often has a ripple effect. We are a powerful nation, a permanent member of the Security Council, which gives us greater influence than others. Unfortunately, we are in economic difficulty, and it shows.
