Source: The Patriot Light | AWK Network | VIEW ORIGINAL POST ==>
Germany’s conservative election winner Friedrich Merz said Sunday that Europe must boost its own defence capabilities amid growing US-Europe tensions over Ukraine and NATO funding.
“For me, the absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA” in defence matters, Merz said.
“After Donald Trump’s statements in the last week it is clear that the Americans are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe,” he said in a TV debate with other top candidates after the election.
Merz, leader of the CDU/CSU alliance, said he had “no illusions at all about what is coming out of America”.
“I am very curious to see what will happen between now and the NATO summit at the end of June,” he said.
But he added that it was questionable “whether we will still be talking about NATO in its current form or whether we will have to establish an independent European defence capability much more quickly”.
NATO chief Mark Rutte congratulated Merz in an X post and told him that he was “looking forward to working with you in this crucial moment for our shared…
