Political analyst ruled out the possibility of the EU strengthening its defense without U.S. support

The European Union (EU) countries do not have sufficient resources to strengthen the defense capabilities of their armies, and this is impossible without US military support. This was stated by Yevgeniya Pimenova, a historian and German political scientist, in a conversation with Izvestia on February 25.

Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU/CSU), which won the elections to the Bundestag, said at a press conference on the results of the vote held the day before that Europe should build up its defense capabilities as soon as possible and not rely on the United States, which, according to him, acts under the motto "America alone". He described the situation in the EU as "without five minutes past midnight".

"Much will depend on the actual practical outcomes of [ US President Donald] Trump's current high-profile statements. Maybe Merz's words about defense will turn out to be rhetoric, maybe the opposite: Germany will become the leader of the European opposition to Trump. Either way, in the foreseeable future, Europe will not be able to build a new effective military bloc without the United States," she said.

According to her, Merz, who is likely to take the post of Chancellor of Germany, has found himself in a difficult situation - following the American rhetoric has been the basis of Germany's foreign policy course since the late 1940s. US Vice President J.D. Vance's sharp criticism of the FRG at the Munich Conference on February 14 was literally a "slap in the face" for the German government, Pimenova noted.

"The first Trump presidency in Germany tried to simply 'wait it out'. Now, however, it seems that Trump not only has his own vision of reorganizing the system of international relations, but also a kind of carte blanche to do so. Merz understands that Germany needs to try to take its place in the face of possible changes. However, the EU currently has no real resources to form the defense power of Europe outside NATO," the German political scientist stressed.

Parliamentary elections were held in Germany on February 23. The best result was shown by the CDU/CSU bloc with 28.6% of votes. Second place went to the Alternative for Germany (AdG) with 20.8%, the Social Democratic Party of incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz took third place with 16.4%. On February 24, Merz announced coalition talks with the SPD.

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On February 23, Merz said that Trump is "largely indifferent" to the fate of Europe. In addition, he said that at the moment the European heads do not have an understanding of what position the U.S. president will take in the near future on Ukraine. For this reason, it is important in the FRG to form a new government as soon as possible, Merz noted.

On January 24, Trump said that he is not sure whether to continue sponsoring NATO, as Washington protects the members of the alliance, but in return does not receive help. He said he would push for North Atlantic Alliance nations to increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. On February 17, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Giuseppe Cavo Dragone said that the United States would not withdraw from NATO, but would reduce the presence of its military contingent in Europe, shifting its focus to the Indo-Pacific region.