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Katarina Barley (SPD), SPD's top candidate for the European elections, speaks on stage.
© Jonas Walzberg/dpa
After Trump's statements about NATO, Katarina Barley doubts whether Europe is still protected by the US nuclear umbrella.
An EU nuclear bomb could also become an issue.
Brussels - The SPD's leading candidate for the European elections, Katarina Barley, doubts that Europe is still protected by the US nuclear umbrella.
“In view of Donald Trump’s recent statements, we can no longer rely on this,” Barley told the
Tagesspiegel
on Tuesday (February 13).
When asked whether the EU needed its own nuclear bombs, the SPD politician replied: “On the way to a European army,” “that could also become an issue.”
Europe has a duty if the USA fails as an arms supplier
The nuclear deterrent for Europe currently lies with NATO.
However, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg correctly remarked that it was still in the USA's interest to “provide this significantly”.
If the USA were to stop being an arms supplier to Ukraine in the future, Barley sees Europe as having a duty.
“If this really happens, Europe will have to take on this responsibility,” she said.
“We have to take Putin’s threats seriously and behave accordingly.
When Putin publicly doubts the territorial integrity of Poland and Lithuania, it shows how vigilant we must be.”
Trump would encourage Putin to attack defaulting NATO member states
Trump caused international consternation at the weekend with his announcement that he would not protect defaulting NATO allies in the event of re-election.
On Saturday, Trump reported on an unspecified meeting with NATO partners at a rally in the US state of South Carolina: “One of the presidents of a major country stood up and said, 'Well, sir, if we don't pay up and we get attacked by Russia 'Then will you protect us?'”.
Trump responded by saying that in this case he would not protect the country and would even encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” with the country in question.
(AFP)