Europe targets homegrown nuclear deterrent as Trump sides with Putin

Given the long history of French frustration with Berlin, Merz’s comments were welcomed by politicians, officials and analysts in France, Germany and the U.K. Even some of his political opponents acknowledge privately that talking to the British and French about nuclear protection would be a sensible step. 

“That a future chancellor, chief of the [Christian Democrats] should say that is a huge thing, I can’t think of any equivalent in the post-World War II era, but it’s commensurate with the shock that the [American] statements have caused,” said one French official working on military policy, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. 

“In many ways, what’s happening is a bit positive. For decades, under the guise of transatlanticism, we’ve been losing interest in defense and letting the U.S. decide. It’s also an opportunity for Europe to take matters into its own hands.” 

‘Striking’

Jean-Louis Thiériot, a former deputy defense minister in France, now a lawmaker in the National Assembly’s defense committee, said Merz’s intervention was “striking.” 

His words show “how seriously he takes the risk of decoupling from the USA, and thus the end of the American nuclear umbrella,” Thiériot said. “That’s a big change from the old days, when we weren’t taken very seriously, especially in terms of volume,” he added, referring to past criticism that France doesn’t have as many nuclear warheads as the U.S. or Russia. 

“This shows both the seriousness of the situation within the alliance and the seriousness with which French and British deterrence is taken,” he added.