Photo: Kay Nietfeld / AFP
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has called on the European Union to prepare for a scenario in which the United States could radically reduce or stop its security support. He made the statement in an op-ed for Le Monde.
“We can and must hope, but we must also prepare. Keep the faith, but remain vigilant,” Sikorsky wrote, stressing that the signals from Washington are already clear.
He mentioned the public statements by President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of Defence Pete Hagel that indicate a possible reassessment of the US security commitments to Europe.
The main theses of Sikorsky:
- The EU should be prepared to act on its own in the event of a decline in US support.
- Deterring Russia is a feasible task for Europe even without American troops, if we act decisively.
- Europeans do not need to match the US in military potential, but they need to be strong enough to deter the Kremlin.
- The EU’s support for Ukraine has already reached $150 billion since 2022, less than 1% of the EU’s total GDP.
Sikorski’s statement reflects the changing political climate in Europe amid an increasingly unpredictable US foreign policy since Trump’s return to power. Poland, one of Ukraine’s most loyal partner countries, has been advocating for the rearmament of the EU and the creation of a self-sufficient defence structure independent of Washington.
