German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has warned that Europe can no longer rely on the United States in the way it once did, declaring that “the decades of Pax Americana are largely over for us in Europe and also for us in Germany.” Speaking at the Christian Social Union (CSU) party congress in Munich, Merz argued that “nostalgia is of no help here,” adding that Washington is now “pursuing their own interests very, very vigorously.” Analyzing the remarks on TVP World, Dr. Eoin Micheál McNamara of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs said the chancellor’s statements reflect a deeper European problem. “When we're talking about an absence of German leadership, we're also talking about an absence of European strategic autonomy,” he said. McNamara pointed to what he described as long-standing German complacency, citing an assessment by analyst Constanze Stelzenmüller that “Germany in the past outsourced its security needs to the United States, its energy needs to Russia and its economic growth needs to China.” He added: “All of that has turned out to be too clever by half.” He warned that Europe cannot count on political change in Washington to reverse the trend. “It’s not just that Trump’s successor might be worse,” McNamara said. “Even if Trump is succeeded by a Democrat… they’ll have less time for foreign policy. So no matter which way we look at it, Europe needs to do more.” Asked whether Europe is capable of securing itself, McNamara replied: “I think we can do it alone… we can secure our own continent alone if we focus on it.” But he said that this would require a profound shift inside Germany itself. “We do need a cultural change, both in domestic attitudes in Germany and fully in German foreign policy now and indeed industrial policy.” McNamara also highlighted resistance within German society, noting that “there are surveys out there that younger Germans are less willing to fight to defend their country than some other countries in Europe.” Referring to comments by Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, McNamara recalled that Sikorski once said he feared “Germany not acting rather than Germany acting,” arguing that Berlin must now “think more as a geopolitical actor rather than a geoeconomic actor.” Despite domestic economic pressures, McNamara said Germany’s strong attachment to the European project could still drive change. “I find the German people very pro-European integration,” he said, adding that many will recognize the need “to protect the democracy, to protect the prosperity we've built up” over the past decades.
