The Four Challenges facing European Defence

by Jean-Marc Vigilant, Major General (ret.), Président of EuroDéfense-France

 

Speech 

CLUB OF THREE- DINER AT THE FRENCH EMBASSY

25-09-2025, Berlin

 

Most European allies are still in shock – torn between astonishment and denial – at discovering the ideological alignment and community of interests between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin. They therefore struggle to make sense of the current situation and to imagine a world without American protection.

The United States no longer wishes to act as the world’s policeman promoting liberal democratic values. Its president recognises neither friends nor foes, but only the strong, whom he respects, and the weak, whom he despises.

In the face of this new strategic isolation, Europeans must demonstrate greater solidarity among themselves. Europe is not as weak as it believes. Ten times richer than Russia, almost as wealthy and more populous than the United States, it must regain its self-confidence and the will to defend its interests by engaging in power play.

In this context, Europeans face four short-, medium- and long-term challenges:

1. Maintaining European Cohesion

Kept under the illusion that they can secure a “better deal” than their neighbours with the American giant, Europeans are more in competition with one another than with the rest of the world. Too comfortably settled for decades in a dependency on American leadership, Europeans too often forget that they share more interests with each other than with their American ally.

2.  Supporting Ukraine

Europe must stop just supporting Ukraine so that it does not lose, and instead it must commit resolutely to ensuring that Russian aggression in Ukraine is brought to a permanent end. A so-called military superpower like Russia, which is unable to crush Ukraine after three years of special operations and has failed to achieve any of its strategic objectives, is a paper tiger, as President Trump said.

It must, however, come under the maximum possible pressure – a combination of constraints of all kinds, including military thanks to the Coalition of the Willing in support of the Ukrainian armed forces – so that Russia concludes the game is no longer worth the candle, and it also stops its hybrid war against Europe.

3.  Strengthening the European Pillar of NATO

NATO is the main instrument of our collective defence. But from the American perspective, NATO is primarily the gathering of European allies, since most US military forces in Europe remain under national American command within US EUCOM. The same American general commands both the Alliance’s forces in Europe (SACEUR) and US forces in Europe (COM EUCOM). The ambiguity deliberately maintained over whether American forces are assigned to EUCOM or to NATO was reassuring for European allies and a deterrent for potential adversaries.

Yet, faced with the increasingly evident divergence between European and American interests in Europe, Europeans must invest more heavily in NATO so that the organisation can function regardless of the level of American engagement, for it remains the main instrument of European military integration.

The rise in European strength within the Alliance is not taboo in the United States and should be organised in good faith with the Americans, so as to gradually compensate in the coming years for their inevitable disengagement from Europe.

4.  Developing a European Strategic Autonomy

Considering the US-Russia summit in Alaska this summer, and despite recent President Trump’s positive signals towards the Europeans, we cannot rule out the possibility that European and American interests are so divergent that the US would oppose the use of NATO to defend European interests.

In matters of defence, Europeans must seek strategic autonomy that enables them to assess situations, decide, equip themselves, plan and act independently to defend their own interests globally.

To this end, we need to develop a command-and-control structure, possibly based on a European pillar of NATO, but which is detachable, modelled on US forces in Europe. It could, when required, be integrated into or excluded from the NATO command chain.

At the capability level, Europeans must sustainably and independently strengthen their military capabilities, through a consolidated and more efficient world class European defence industrial and technological base, while harnessing innovation.

This means aligning actions with words and ceasing to invoke European preference while continuing to invest heavily in the purchase of arms outside the European continent, when all the necessary technical and scientific expertise exists in Europe. This also means avoiding pitting short-term national interests against long-term collective interests, which weakens us in global competition.

Conclusion

History teaches us that weakness is provocative. Therefore, the three countries France, Germany and the UK should lead the way in an united Europe, with courage and determination to demonstrate boldness and strength.

 

Jean-Marc Vigilant - 25 september 2025

 

La version longue et intégrale de l'article de Jean-Marc Vigilant a été publiée en  anglais 
par la Fondation Robert SCHUMAN le 16 septembre 2025 :

https://www.robert-schuman.eu/en/european-issues/802-the-four-challenges-facing-european-defence