French President Emmanuel Macron stated on Monday that the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Donald Trump’s policies in the United States were forcing Europe to take greater responsibility for their own physical and economic safety.

Macron made these comments on his way to a meeting of European Union leaders at Brussels, where they were discussing relations with the United States as well as strengthening Europe’s defenses.

Trump’s declaration at the weekend, that he would soon impose tariffs against imports from EU was overshadowed the start of the summit. He had just taken similar measures with goods from Canada and Mexico.

Arriving leaders warned Trump not to start a trade conflict and said that the EU would retaliate against him if he started one.

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Macron said Trump’s policy was one of many factors that pushed the EU to become more independent.

Macron said that the COVID outbreak and Russian aggression in Ukraine was a moment of awakening.

He said: “What is happening in Ukraine right now, and what is happening with the decisions, the declarations, of the new American Administration of President Trump, pushes Europeans to be united, to be more active, to respond to subjects of their collective safety.”

Macron said that this meant buying more European weapons and boosting Europe’s defense industry.

His comments reflect his vision of European “strategic autonomy”. Some other leaders, however, said they wanted to maintain a strong partnership in security with the U.S.

“I will be against restrictions on the purchase of arms.” Our top priority is security. “Relations with the U.S.A. Canada and Norway, in terms of defense, must remain at forefront,” Polish Premier Donald Tusk stated.

‘LAZY’ DEFENCE

Bart De Wever, the new Belgian prime minister, said that Europe was “a little lazy” on defence issues but Russian President Vladimir Putin has “woken us up”.

He said, “We must keep the relationship going with the United States.” “The way forward is to strengthen European defence… in the partnership of the Transatlantic Alliance.”

Antonio Costa, president of the European Council of EU Leaders, described the one-day meeting as “retreat”, devoted to defense policy, rather than a summit. He aimed for an open discussion, without any official announcement or decisions.

The guest list also includes British Prime Minister Keir starmer and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

The EU’s 27 leaders will discuss the military capabilities that they require, their funding options and ways to cooperate through joint projects.

Diplomats say that the funding debate will be particularly difficult, because many European countries do not have much room for large spending increases in their budgets.

Some countries, like the Baltic States and France, support joint EU borrowing for defence. Germany and the Netherlands, however, are against.

According to some diplomats, a compromise might be to use loans to finance defence projects rather than grants.

In recent years, European countries have increased their defence spending, especially since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which brought war within the EU’s borders. Leaders on both sides say that Europe must spend more.

Trump said NATO members in Europe should spend 5% on defence. This is a figure that no other member of the alliance, including the United States, has reached.

According to EU estimates, EU countries spent on average 1.9% of their GDP or 326 billion euro ($334.48billion) last year. This is a 30% rise from 2021.