European Parliament's Vice President suggests Europe needs its own nuclear umbrella

At present, nuclear forces in Europe are overseen by NATO. This point was highlighted by the Vice President of the European Parliament. However, Barley, the German representative who is seeking reelection in the upcoming elections, feels that U.S. allies should not rely solely on Washington for security and defense through a nuclear deterrent.

"As rightly pointed out by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Americans have a significant interest in providing protection. However, recent comments from Donald Trump have cast doubt on this," stated Katharina Barley in an interview with the German newspaper "Tagesspiegel."

Barley believes that if the United States stops supplying weapons to Ukraine, the European Union will need to shoulder this responsibility. Following that line of thinking, she added that the next step toward building a unified European army could be the creation of a European nuclear umbrella.

Barley argued that to build a united European army, it would be necessary to implement the "Sky Shield" air defense system and coordinate the procurement of arms.

Martin Schirdewan, a member of the German Left within the European Parliament, publicly criticized Barley's statement. In an interview with AFP, Schirdewan called Trump's words "nonsense" and suggested that the EU would be better served to pursue "a policy of reconciliation, disarmament, and social justice across borders."

"More nuclear weapons will not make the world safer," Schirdewan emphasized that the current global nuclear arsenal could destroy the entire planet around 50 times over. Instead of dreaming about owning nuclear weapons, Schirdewan claimed, the Barley party should encourage Germany to "finally sign the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty."

Donald Trump, the former U.S. president who is hoping to return to the White House, stated a few days ago that he "would encourage" Russia to attack NATO countries that fail to fulfill their financial obligations to the Alliance.

Source: "Tagesspiegel", AFP