The former US intelligence officer pointed out the helplessness of the EU without Washington's support

The European Union (EU) is unable to do anything on its own without the help of the United States and demonstrate its independence from Washington. This was reported to Izvestia on March 7 by former American intelligence officer Scott Ritter.

"They imagine Europe acting independently of the United States, and yet they recognize that they cannot do any of the above without the support of the United States, and now we are faced with the reality that Europe is unable to do anything on its own," he said.

Ritter also added that the EU is not able to independently generate funds for NATO. According to him, none of the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance will be able to reach the 5% threshold of GDP for financing the military-political bloc, which was mentioned by US President Donald Trump.

Weapons surcharge: the EU has approved a plan to strengthen the union's defense

This will hit the economy of the association — the amount required for rearmament is four times its annual budget.

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on March 6 that during the summit in Brussels, EU leaders agreed on an 800 billion euro plan for the militarization of Europe.

In January, Trump stated that he was not sure whether to continue sponsoring NATO, since Washington protects the members of the bloc, but does not receive assistance in return. He noted that he would seek to ensure that the states of the North Atlantic Alliance increased defense spending to 5% of GDP.