UK PM Calls for European Military Revolution

(MENAFN) UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called on European NATO allies to abandon "overdependence" on the US and pursue greater autonomy through "hard power," as Washington intensifies pressure for expanded defense budgets and transatlantic divisions widen over critical policy matters.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Starmer is anticipated to contend that although "the US remains an indispensable ally," Britain's strategic future hinges on strengthened partnerships with continental European nations.

According to advance excerpts released by the prime minister's office Friday, he declared: "Europe must shift from overdependence to interdependence – forging a new path towards sovereign deterrence and hard power."

Starmer characterized the continent as a "sleeping giant" regarding military capacity, while expressing concern that this potential "has [often] added up to less than the sum of its parts."

French President Emmanuel Macron reinforced this position, emphasizing that "Europe has to become a geopolitical power" and must "to accelerate and deliver all the components of a geopolitical power: Defense, technologies, and de-risking from all the big powers."

Macron has advocated for European defense independence since floating the concept of a "European army" in November 2018, though his proposals have garnered minimal traction. Recent Politico polling data reveals only 22% of Germans and 17% of French citizens endorse establishing an EU military force, notwithstanding pervasive anxieties about World War III.

The UK leader's statements arrive as British defense officials caution that the British army would face operational collapse in potential conflict against comparable adversaries due to chronic underfunding, with military stockpiles projected to deplete within days during major hostilities.

These autonomy demands emerge against a backdrop of escalating tensions between the US and European NATO partners sparked by President Donald Trump's territorial ambitions toward Greenland from Denmark. Trump has justified the acquisition as essential for national security interests, prompting EU nations to mount vigorous defenses of the island's sovereignty.

Trump has persistently urged fellow NATO members to amplify defense expenditures rather than depending exclusively on US security commitments. Consequently, NATO allies have pledged to elevate military spending to 5% of GDP. Russia has denounced the alliance's aggressive militarization, asserting it destabilizes European security.

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