BRUSSELS ― There’s no turning back now.
That was the message from European leaders who gathered in Brussels on Thursday.
And even though this emergency summit, called in response to Donald Trump’s threats to seize Greenland, turned into something far less dramatic because the U.S. president backed down 24 hours earlier, the quiet realization that Europe’s post-1945 rubicon had been crossed was, if anything, all the more striking for it.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the EU’s two most powerful leaders, who haven’t seen eye-to-eye of late, were united in warning that the transatlantic crisis had catapulted the bloc into a harsh new reality — one in which it must embrace independence.
“We know we have to work as an independent Europe,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters at the end of the five-hour gathering.
And while, in contrast to recent EU summits, there was no tub-thumping or quarrels or even any decisions to be made, the gathering quietly signaled a tacit understanding, according to four EU diplomats and one official with knowledge of the leaders’ discussion, that there’s a fateful break between the old order and the new, the way the West has functioned since World War II and whatever lies ahead.
While the mental shift toward independence has been gestating for years ― ever since Trump first moved into the White House in 2017 ― his unprecedented threats to Greenland acted as a sudden warning, forcing them to take steps that would have been unthinkable even just a few months ago, they said.
All the officials interviewed for this article were granted anonymity to enable them to speak freely about the summit, which was held in private.
“This is the Rubicon moment,” said an EU diplomat from an eastern flank country, with knowledge of the leaders’ discussions. “It’s shock therapy. Europe cannot go back to the way it was before. They [the leaders] have been saying this for days.” What that new way would look like is — as usual — a conversation for another day.
But there have been hints at it this week. The initial response from EU leaders to the Greenland crisis — suspending an EU-U.S. trade agreement, sending troops to Greenland, threatening to deploy sweeping trade retaliation against the U.S. — served as a taste of what might come.
Everything, all at once
Between them, and then in public, leaders underscored that the speedy, unified response this month couldn’t be a one-off. Instead, it would need to define the bloc’s approach to just about everything
“It cannot be energy security or defense, it cannot be economic strength or trade dependence, it has to be everything, all at once,” one of the diplomats said.
A key feature of Europe’s newfound quest for independence is a degree of unity that has long eluded the bloc.
For countries on the bloc’s eastern flank, their location in the path of an expansionist Russia has long underpinned a quasi-religious belief in NATO ― in which a reliable U.S. had the biggest military and guaranteed the defense of all other members ― and its ability to deter Moscow. A sense of existential reliance on the U.S. has kept these countries firmly in Washington’s camp, leading to disagreements with countries further west, like France, that advocate “strategic autonomy” for Europe.
Now, France isn’t the outlier. Even countries directly exposed to Russia’s expansionism are showing willingness to get on board with the independence push.
Estonia is a case in point. The tiny Baltic country said last week it would consider deploying troops to Greenland as part of a “scoping mission” organized by NATO. Tallinn didn’t end up sending any soldiers — but the mere fact that it raised the possibility was remarkable.
“When Europe is not divided, when we stand together, and when we are clear and strong, also in our willingness to stand up for ourselves, then results will show,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. “I think we have learned something in the last days and weeks.”
Poland, one of the staunchest U.S. backers, also stepped out of its traditional comfort zone. In discussions about how to respond, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has signaled openness to deploying the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument — a powerful trade retaliation tool that allows for limiting investments from threatening nations, according to the diplomats.
“We always respected and accepted American leadership,” Tusk said. “But what we need today in our politics is trust and respect among our partners here, not domination and not coercion. It doesn’t work.”
Learning the lesson
A similar realization is taking hold in Europe’s free-trading northern countries.
While nations like Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands have historically opposed any move that risks imperiling their trading relationship with the U.S., those countries also signaled openness to retaliation against Trump.
“This is a new era where we’re not going to rely on them anymore,” said a fourth EU diplomat. “At least not for three years,” while Trump is still in office. “This [Greenland crisis] was a test. We’ve learned the lesson.”
Even Germany, whose political culture has been defined for decades by faith in the transatlantic relationship, is questioning old assumptions. Merz has hinted that Germany could be onboard with a tough trade response against the U.S.
While EU diplomats and officials credited those moves with helping to change Trump’s mind on his tariff threats, they warned that further tough choices were now in order.
“We need to own our agenda,” added the fourth diplomat. “Ukraine, productivity, competitiveness, security, strategic autonomy. The lesson is not to say no to everything.”
Tim Ross, Zoya Sheftalovich, Seb Starcevic, Victor Jack, Nette Nöstlinger, Ferdinand Knapp, Jacopo Barigazzi, Carlo Martuscelli, Ben Munster, Camille Gijs, Gerardo Fortuna, Jakob Weizman, Bartosz Brzeziński, Gabriel Gavin and Giedre Peseckyte contributed reporting.
