It was a television trap that many in Europe hope will stop the war.

Donald Trump’s reprimand to Ukraine President Volodimir Zelenski in the White House was a powerful blow to the European Alliance, dismantling any illusions that existed in Europe for the US would support the Old Epirus.

Shocked, perhaps and scared, Europe may have finally understood the needs of its own defense in Trump’s era.

“It’s like Roussvelt welcomed Churchill (in the White House) and began to intimidate him,” French MEP Rafael Gluchmanman told CNN.

Since US Secretary of Defense Pitt Hegschez called Europe “miserable” in a group conversation with government officials, in which The Atlantic journalist has accidentally included decades of defense. At the table there are policies that would be unthinkable just a few weeks ago.

The biggest change came to GermanyEurope’s largest economy. Following the federal elections, the awaiting chancellor Friedrich Mertz It passed from the German House of Representatives, which abolishes Germany’s constitutional “debt brake”, a mechanism for limiting state borrowing.

In principle, change of law allows unlimited costs for defense and security. Experts expect the move to unlock up to 600 billion euros in Germany in the next decade.

“This is changing the game in Europe, because Germany was the late – especially among the big countries – in defense,” analyst Piotr Bouras told CNN.

To overcome its debt phobia, Bouras said that Germany finally acted as if it had really passed a “Zeitenwende” – or “turning point” – as described by the outgoing Chancellor Allaf Saltz in February 2022, just three days after the wide -ranging.

Although the invasion shocked Germany, “only Trump’s shock made them make this truly fundamental decision to suspend the debt brake,” Bouras said.

“This is the real, right Zeitenwende.”

The taboos collapse

In neighboring France, Emmanuel Macron – who has long been demanding European “strategic autonomy” from the US – has said that he is thinking of expanding the protection of her nuclear arsenal to her allies, already seemingly protected by the US.

Macron’s comments earlier this month took place after Mertz called for talks with France and the United Kingdom – the two nuclear forces of Europe – on the expansion of their nuclear protection. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk welcomed the idea and even asked to consider Poland to acquire the same nuclear weapons.

In the meantime, the Poland and the Baltic statesEstonia, Lithuania and Latvia- all have borders with Russia- have been withdrawn from the 1997 Ottawa Treaty that completely prohibits the mines against staff. Lithuania has already announced the market of 85,000 land miles and Poland is planning to produce 1 million.

OR Lithuania He also withdrew from the International Treaty against the ammunition this month.

The recruitment has also returned to Epirus. OR Denmark It has declared women eligible for compulsory recruitment since 2026 and reduced health requirements for certain positions as part of the support of the country’s armed forces. Poland has also announced plans for every adult man to receive military training.

Even neutral countries are reviewing their positions. In the midst of discussions on how peace will be maintained in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, the government in Ireland He proposed legislation that would allow troops to be developed without the approval of the UN, bypassing a possible Russian (or American) veto.

The unpleasant – and often untold – is true that Europe has long depends on the US to protect it from potential invaders. This support is no longer so sure.

Indeed, some began to challenge the future markets of astronomically expensive US F-35 aircraft they had planned to acquire. Portuguese Defense Minister Nuno Melo said his country is re -examining markets by preferring European alternatives, due to the difficulties of supplying US spare parts.

It is the first time such concerns have been publicly transmitted to such a high level.

European unity?

However, although Europe seems to have received the message, the debate on a single approach is premature.

When European Commission President Ursula von der Laien has revealed the billions of euros in billions of euros in Rearm Europe, Spain and Italy declined to proceed. Since then, the plan has been renamed “Readiness 2030”.

Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni has also rejected the possibility of sending Italian troops as part of a European army to maintain peace in Ukraine – another key issue on which Epirus is divided.

Changing the name implies a dividing line in Europe: The farther a country from Russia is, the less likely it is to put arms over butter, CNN says.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said a few weeks ago that “the threat to us is not for Russia to bring its troops to the Pyrenees.” He called on Brussels “to take into account that the challenges we face in the southern neighborhood are a little different from those facing the east side.”

Gabrielius Landsbergis, a former Lithuanian Foreign Minister, told CNN that he was “upset” by Spanish statements and that a recent trip to Kiev – where air raid sirens hit most nights – made him imagine similar scenes in Vili.

As Bouras comments, the overall European unity will always be “an illusion”.

“What really matters is what the main countries do,” he said, pointing Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Poland. “I want to be carefully optimistic, but I think we’re on the right track now.”

Asked if we would remember in March until the month of Europe woke up, Bouras said, “Yes, we woke up, but now we have to dress.”