France has learned about strengthening EU-NATO ties to counter Trump

European Union (EU) countries and the NATO military bloc intend to strengthen cooperation to counter the policies of re-elected US President Donald Trump, who will officially take office in January. This was reported by the French newspaper Le Monde on November 21, citing data from an unnamed diplomat.

It is noted that a good reason for interaction was the appointment of former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to the post of Secretary General of the Northern Alliance, and former head of the Estonian government Kai Kallas to the post of head of the EU foreign policy service.

According to the publication, the EU and NATO "no longer want to look back and seek to create an image of unity and cooperation" in order to strengthen their own security. This concerns, among other things, military mobility, strengthening road surfaces, bridges and tunnels for the movement of equipment and common efforts to combat sabotage and cyber threats.

In addition, Brussels has set a goal to develop its own industry to reduce dependence on the United States, the publication notes.

Earlier, on November 19, Rutte said before a meeting of EU defense ministers that NATO countries should start spending more than 2% of GDP on defense. Rutte also called for increased efforts in the defense industry. He said the alliance is working closely with the EU to strengthen the defense industrial complex "in the coming months."

Before that, on November 7, the new secretary general of the alliance promised that in the future NATO countries will spend more than 2% of GDP for defense purposes, as demanded by Trump, who won the US presidential election. Rutte suggested a discussion on whether the new goal would be universal or different depending on the capabilities of each country.