European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Wednesday, 28 January 2026, urged European countries to take on a stronger role in their own defence and within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), saying the return of United States President Donald Trump has shaken transatlantic ties.
Speaking at a defence conference in Brussels, the capital of Belgium and a key hub for European Union institutions, Kallas said Europe still wants a close partnership with the United States, but must adjust to changing global priorities in Washington. “Let me be clear: we want strong transatlantic ties. The United States will remain Europe’s partner and ally,” she said, adding that “Europe needs to adapt to the new realities,” because Europe is no longer the main focus of United States foreign policy.
Kallas, who represents the European Union, a 27-nation political and economic bloc, argued that the shift in United States attention is not new and should not be treated as temporary. She said the change is “structural, not temporary,” and warned that relying on others for survival is risky. “It means that Europe must step up. No great power in history has outsourced its survival and survived,” she said. Okay News reports that her message was aimed at accelerating Europe’s defence preparations without breaking the partnership with Washington.
Her remarks come after Trump, the president of the United States, unsettled European allies earlier in January by threatening to seize Greenland, a strategically located Arctic territory that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, which is both a NATO and European Union member. He later backed away from the threat, but the episode reinforced calls for Europe to reduce its long-standing dependence on the United States, NATO’s strongest military power, for protection.
Even so, Kallas stressed that NATO remains central to Europe’s security. NATO is a United States-led military alliance formed in 1949 and headquartered in Brussels. She said European Union defence plans should “remain complementary” to NATO’s work, while insisting that Europe must carry more weight inside the alliance. “Especially now, as the United States is setting its sights beyond Europe, NATO needs to become more European to maintain its strength,” she said. “For this, Europe must act.”
European governments have already increased defence spending since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a war that has deeply affected European security. Kallas noted that NATO members also agreed last year to significantly raise the alliance’s spending target, after pressure from Trump, who has repeatedly argued that European allies must pay more for their own defence.
Kallas also warned that the international climate is becoming more dangerous, pointing to growing competition among major powers. “The risk of a full-blown return to coercive power politics, spheres of influence and a world where might makes right, is very real,” she said, urging Europe to treat the moment as urgent and lasting.
Her comments followed a warning from NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the former prime minister of the Netherlands, who told lawmakers in the European Union’s parliament on Monday, 26 January 2026, not to assume Europe can defend itself without the United States. Rutte said Europe would have to double its spending targets to cover the “billions and billions of euros” needed to replace the United States nuclear umbrella, referring to the American nuclear deterrent that is central to NATO’s collective defence.
Rutte also cautioned that any move to build European forces that effectively replace the United States inside NATO could serve the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia. “Putin will love it. So think again,” Rutte said. Instead, he encouraged the European Union to use its strengths to unlock funding, reduce regulatory barriers, and support the growth of the continent’s defence industry, while keeping efforts aligned with the wider NATO alliance.
