Europe facing up to new era due to Trump: Dutch minister

Europe is "at the start of a new era" and needs to learn to rely on itself, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said on Monday as the continent scrambles to react to U.S. President Donald Trump's stunning reversal of decades of major U.S policies.

Veldkamp's remarks came after Friedrich Merz, the winner of Sunday's German general election, questioned whether NATO would remain in its "current form" by June and said Europe must quickly establish an independent defense capability.

"The era that started at the fall of the Berlin Wall is now over," Veldkamp said, when asked about the remarks by Germany's likely next chancellor as he arrived for a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels.

"As Europeans, we need to organize, not only within the EU but with the Brits and the Norwegians and other countries that want to participate, to face the new challenges that are presented to us, also by Trump," he said.

"We have all turned into Gaullists," said Veldkamp, in a reference to former French President Charles de Gaulle, "which means we are committed to our transatlantic relationship, but with realistic expectations for what that means."


Reuters