Europe shocked that the US is no longer a security guarantor – Bloomberg
19 February 2024 11:03
At the Munich Security Conference, held on 16-18 February, European representatives were extremely pessimistic about the security situation. The main reason for such sentiments is the lack of US assistance to Ukraine, Bloomberg reports 
with reference to Bloomberg.
“NATO members are now privately talking about a Russian attack on one of them as a danger that requires an immediate response, as they doubt that the United States will maintain its traditional role of defending Europe as part of the alliance,”
– the newspaper writes.
European countries’ anxiety is based on three obvious points:
- russia’s success on the battlefield;
- the lack of American assistance to Ukraine;
- the realisation that European countries themselves have done very little to ensure their own security.
Thus, in Munich, they discussed scenarios in which this very public deterioration in US support would provoke a Russian attack on a NATO country.
“I cannot predict if and when an attack on NATO territory might occur. But it could happen in five to eight years,”
– German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in an interview with Bloomberg.
US Republican senator and Trumpist J. Vance echoed these sentiments, saying that Europe is indeed investing very little in its own security.
“The problem with Europe is that it does not provide sufficient deterrence on its own, because it has not been proactive enough. The American security blanket has allowed European security to atrophy,”
– Vance said at the discussion in Munich.
The forum was attended by US Vice President Kamala Harris, who tried to reassure everyone that the US remains a reliable ally, but her statements did not sound very convincing to the audience.
“Stop moaning, whining and berating Trump – we are not spending more on defence and increasing munitions production because of Trump. We have to do it because we want to do it, because it is in our interests”,
– said Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has withdrawn its troops from Avdiivka due to the West’s delay in providing assistance.
