The End of an Era: NATO Must Become More European

And this is precisely what has been said in Europe since the previous summit: the alliance must change.

Protect the collective West

When the North Atlantic Alliance was founded in 1949, its purpose was clear and understandable. The largest multilateral military organization in human history was intended to cement American political and military gains in Europe.

After World War II, the Soviets dreamed of dominating the entire continent, so the Americans built the most effective barrier in history. This alliance of several dozen countries was based on the shared foundations of democracy, the desire to defend it, and also on the American military presence in Europe and Washington's nuclear umbrella.

On the other hand, the Americans would not be a global military superpower were it not for NATO and its allied infrastructure in Europe. This US leadership should not be forgotten.

The Alliance protected the interests of the entire collective West.

But  something went wrong

After Donald Trump returned to the White House, US policy towards NATO changed. The president has moved away from money – he demanded larger financial contributions from Europeans to the Alliance's budget.

And so the "Trump trillion" emerged: a flattering diplomatic term used by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte last month at the White House to describe the massive increase in military spending by European allies and Canada since the two-time president took office in 2017.

European leaders have already published the recorded increase in defense spending.

On Friday, Trump posted a graphic on his Truth Social platform showing Nato members’ defence budgets, comparing a vast US spend of $999billions with smaller figures from European states including the UK and France.

Introducing the graphic, he wrote: “Ridiculous for the U.S.A. to continue along this one-sided path when the relationship is not reciprocal.”

The US has made a series of announcements withdrawing assets available to European security architecture in recent weeks. Last month, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth announced a review of US troops in Europe with a view to drawing down force numbers, which currently stand at around 80,000.

But that's not all.

Trump is also demanding political loyalty from allies. And how can we not mention Greenland and Iran.

The summit in Ankara will be the first face-to-face meeting of allies since Trump threatened to take over Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of NATO member Denmark – a crisis that caused a deep split between the United States and the rest of the Western alliance.

Moreover, the US President is "still seething with anger" over his allies' refusal to support his war with Iran, Euronews reports.

Europeans are also not particularly pleased that Trump has periodically shown deference to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who – as some European officials fear – may be planning operations on NATO territory, testing the alliance's resolve.

Eastern Flank

Diplomats, quoted by France’s press agency AFP, say Nato’s European members and Canada were saying that their countries would pledge €70 billion in military aid to Ukraine over this year and next, a signal that support for Kyiv remains substantial despite mounting political strain.

The commitment, to be included in the final declaration, would comprise €30 billion annually from an EU-backed loan and previously earmarked national contributions.

Ukraine will remain one of the summit's main topics. Support for Kyiv is neither an act of charity nor a purely political gesture. Ukraine weakens Russia's military potential daily, and its survival directly impacts the security of NATO member states.

Any reduction in support for Ukraine would mean increased pressure on Poland, Romania, the Baltic states, Finland, and Sweden. From the perspective of the Eastern Flank, the war in Ukraine is not a separate conflict – it constitutes the forward line of defense for European security.

Europe: Home alone

“Like little Kevin in the classic comedy film, European citizens have woken up to an uncomfortable truth: they have been left Home Alone. Not by their parents and siblings, but by an America on whom many thought they could depend.”

It is just a fragment of The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) report, "Home alone : ​​Europeans are ready to defend themselves," published in June 2026, indicates a historic decline in trust in the US.

Europeans’ new-found realism manifests itself in three notable areas:

European trust in the US has crashed to new lows. Europeans do not expect America under Donald Trump to protect them, and they recognise the need for more autonomous security (even funded by common debt). But they do think the relationship will likely improve after Trump and want to leave the door open to that possibility.

These are the main results of a major public opinion poll, totalling 19, 481 respondents,commissioned by ECFR and conducted in May 2026 in 15 European countries

On the verge of change

The Ankara summit will take place at a time of deepening transformation of the Alliance. The end of the model in which Europe based its security on American military power while underinvesting in its own conventional defense capabilities for years.

Twenty-three of the EU's 27 member states are also members of NATO.

"We cannot continue, as we did, being over-reliant on the United States. We need a much stronger Europe within a stronger NATO," Secretary General Mark Rutte said ahead of a NATO summit in Ankara.

"To stay transatlantic, we have to become more European."

"I was very disappointed with NATO," US President Donald Trump told journalists  after landing in Ankara, adding that he was referring to Iran.

"We didn't need any help at all, and in a way, I was testing people," the US President pointed out.

So, to be continued.

Sources: Wyborcha.pl, Euronews, Defence24.pl, ECFR, NATO.int