May 9, 2026, 7:47 amMay 9, 2026, 7:47 am
The German parliamentarian Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann and other EU representatives are calling for a European defense union.Image: keystone
A new cross-party alliance of EU MPs called for the rapid establishment of a European defense union on Europe Day this Saturday. “Relying solely on the United States to protect Europe is a dangerous gamble,” says a statement signed, among others, by German parliamentarians Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), Michael Gahler (CDU) and Tobias Cremer (SPD). Structures are needed that, in an emergency, enable action without the US-dominated NATO. This included appropriate command structures and a rapid reaction force.
Politicians are criticizing the current course of the governments of the EU states. Although they have repeatedly emphasized the political will to strengthen military capabilities, there is a lack of real determination, the text says. For example, short-term national interests continued to block real progress in the procurement of defense equipment. Joint procurement could save up to 100 billion euros annually.
The sensitive issue of nuclear weapons has not yet been discussed
Meanwhile, the politically sensitive issue of nuclear deterrence is not mentioned in the statement. However, the German EU politician Lukas Sieper from the Party of Progress (PDF) was convinced at the presentation that it would also be taken up by the new alliance of representatives in the future.
Nuclear weapons should be abolished globally, said Sieper. But as long as powerful people with evil intentions had it, it would be better to have it yourself. “And if so, then it’s better the EU than a member state,” he added. Sieper is a member of the alliance, as is the Green foreign politician Hannah Neumann and several dozen other MPs from Germany and other EU states.
Europe Day commemorates the Schuman Declaration of May 9, 1950. At that time, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman suggested combining coal and steel production in order to prevent new wars. The declaration is considered the starting point of European unification and an important pioneer of today’s EU. (sda/dpa)