Don’t fear going it alone
I agree with the Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo that ‘Europe should not fear standing alone’ if a future Trump administration loosens its commitment to the defence of Europe.
‘Democracy and liberty will be put to the test in Europe this year,’ states De Croo, ‘but Europe led by the EU should not be afraid of assuming responsibility for its own defence.’
The truth is that militarily only two countries in Europe count. Britain and France. NATO and the EU are the twin pillars of an architecture which has allowed this continent to develop.
For all their faults the French see this. Britain is committed to NATO but has distanced itself from the EU and the Tories are now targeting the European Court of Human Rights as being ‘foreign’.
This is disingenuous, mischievous even. Doesn’t Rishi Sunak know that there are British judges on this court and that Britain was an initial signatory of the establishing treaty?
I share with many a sense of foreboding about international security and this is intensified at the thought of a second Trump administration.
My Canadian cousin is married to a Trump-voting American. He feels that their young son is less likely to be ‘sacrificed’ in a foreign war with Trump in power.
A consequence of Brexit is that the UK is prepared to allow the defence of Europe to be determined by the vagaries of Iowa farmers.
I believe in a partnership which links the US, Canada, and Europe. The reality though is that US support for Britain’s own military initiatives since WW2 has been at best lukewarm.
By that I mean our action in Suez, Northern Ireland and the Falklands. I generalise but the point is valid. It may well be that Europe on its own could come to an arrangement with Russia since their fear, possibly unjustified, seems to be of the US.
The most effective way for this country to play a leading role on the world stage is through intense co-operation with France within a renewed European Union rather than continuing with the self-delusional nonsense that Brexit has enhanced