Franziska Brantner
German Green party spokesperson for EU affairs in the Bundestag
Berlin, Germany
In her recent op-ed for POLITICO, “Europe still needs America” (November 2), German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer argued that Europe should abandon “illusions” of strategic autonomy. Europeans, she wrote, “will not be able to replace America’s crucial role as a security provider,” regardless of who wins the U.S. presidential election.
Not only is this a message of despair, it is a dangerous approach to transatlantic relations and security policy and undermines the creation of a self-confident European Union.
Kramp-Karrenbauer’s intention to lay European security solely in American hands, irrespective of who becomes the next U.S. president, is unrealistic and therefore irresponsible.
Moreover, it is a direct attack not only on French President Emmanuel Macron — and by extension on the Franco-German alliance — but also on her party colleagues in the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU): European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have both committed themselves to increased European strategic autonomy.
Instead of putting our faith in outdated paradigms of a “pax Americana,” we should be focusing our efforts on strengthening the EU.
The “pax Americana” has been a blessing for us, but pretending that it will be enforced by the next U.S. administration is wishful thinking. We know that the bloc is not able today to protect itself militarily on its own. That is why we should be focusing our efforts on strengthening the EU.
We can no longer chain ourselves to NATO’s 2 percent spending target. Rather, we have to define what defence and deterrent capabilities are needed to guarantee our territorial integrity and create European synergies to obtain these.
So what is a credible alternative to Kramp-Karrenbauer’s position? We must be realistic enough and brave enough to stand up for a Europe that protects its values and acts as a guarantor of a liberal democratic order in a chaotic world.
This Europe is defined by a sovereign digital policy, a strong international currency that gives us more weight and scope in foreign policy, and a genuine economic union that is armed against increasingly frequent crises. Its backbone is a strong Green Deal that promotes alliances with other countries on sustainable energy policy and reduces dependency on the U.S. and Russia.
We Europeans no longer have the option of relying on the U.S. for our security needs. Whoever wants to govern in Germany from 2021 onward cannot shy away from these difficult debates on Europe’s foreign and security policy.
What Europe needs now is not more dependence on an unreliable partner, but more European sovereignty.