# With Nato adrift and Brussels snubbed, is the UK key to Europe’s response to Trump?

At moments of great crisis, national leaders and governments generally put their countries’ (and their own) interests first. Transnational geopolitical, economic and security alliances are all very well. But if such organisations do not or cannot rise to the urgent challenges of the day, they risk being bypassed, ignored or shunted aside. This is the predicament now facing the .

After Donald Trump’s appalling treatment of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in full view of the watching world on Friday night, all agree that the US president’s , sickening embrace of Russia and his blunt demand that Europe henceforth defend itself represent just such an extraordinary challenge, and one that must be swiftly addressed.

## Three developments stand out

1. **Europe’s national leaders are taking charge of crisis management**
   - France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, convened an emergency summit in Paris after Trump’s volte-face.
   - Germany’s chancellor-elect, Friedrich Merz, is urging fellow leaders to “strengthen Europe as quickly as possible, so that we achieve ”.
   - Poland’s prime minister, Jacek Starmer, is holding his own European leaders’ summit in London to brief them on his talks with Trump.

2. **Trump administration’s unprecedented hostility to the EU as an institution**
   - Trump says the EU was created to “screw” the US. He is demanding 25% tariffs on EU imports, threatening 25% tariffs for 25% of EU imports if Ukraine fails to meet his security guarantees.
   - A crucial development is Britain’s unexpected return to the centre of European affairs after nearly a decade of self-imposed estrangement.

3. **Trump’s desire to use the UK as a wedge**
   - Putin’s threat to occupy Ukraine and the US’s desire to secure a non-EU, ad hoc government to maintain peace in the region illustrate the bigger issues: a divided Europe and the need for greater international cooperation.

## Importance of Britain’s Role

Britain’s role in boosting and reorganising Europe’s post-Trump defense, outside the confines and constraints of the EU, is plain:

1. **Starmer's coordination with Macron**
   - Starmer is coordinating closely with Macron on a “reassurance force” for Ukraine.
   - He is holding his own European leaders’ summit in London to brief them on his talks with Trump.

2. **The wider political significance of a central UK role**
   - Starmer is coordinating with Macron on a “reassurance force” for Ukraine.
   - He is holding his own European leaders’ summit in London to brief them on his talks with Trump.

## The Need for Action

Nato, the alliance of NATO members that has failed to rise to the challenges, is not nimble enough. The EU is not nimble enough, either. There is a serious need for national governments and coalitions of the willing to support Ukraine and prevent a Trump-Putin division.

## Conclusion

The need for majority voting on key foreign and security issues and curbs on national vetoes grows urgent. If Europe does not rise to the challenge, it risks being divided into factions or being overshadowed by the US.

**Simon Tisdall is the Observer’s Foreign Affairs Commentator**

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