EU's Kallas urges 'more European' NATO amid Trump rupture

US President Donald Trump has made it clear he doesn't want to support Europe like previous administrations. Europe is now grappling with how best to maintain its own defenses.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said on Wednesday Europe needs to play a bigger role in NATO after increasing tensions with the US since the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

Trump has "shaken the transatlantic relationship to its foundation," Kallas told the European Defense Agency's annual conference.

While Europe had sought to stay on Trump's good side in the hope of maintaining US support for Ukraine, Trump's threats to take Greenland from NATO ally Denmark sparked a change in tone from European leaders.

"Let me be clear: we want strong transatlantic ties. The US will remain Europe's partner and ally," Kallas began. "But Europe needs to adapt to the new realities. Europe is no longer Washington's primary center of gravity."

"This shift has been ongoing for a while. It is structural, not temporary. It means that Europe must step up — no great power in history has outsourced its survival and survived."

She went on to say that for NATO to maintain its strength, it "needs to become more European" and to achieve this, "Europe must act."

"The risk of a full-blown return to coercive power politics, spheres of influence and a world where might makes right, is very real," Kallas warned, insisting that Europe "must acknowledge that this tectonic shift is here to stay."

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Kallas, who previously served as the prime minister of Estonia, has been a leading voice in support of Ukraine and long opposed European relations with Russia before the 2022 invasion.

However, her comments contrast those made by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Monday who warned that Europe could not fend off Russian aggression without the US.

Rutte, speaking in the European Parliament, said the bloc would have to double its defense spending targets — currently at 5% — if it wanted to replace the US nuclear umbrella.

He went on to say, "Putin will love it" if Europe seeks to build up its own forces instead of relying on US support. Instead, he called for European countries to help their defense industries grow.

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