Why is Germany Seeking Alternative to US Nuclear Umbrella?

Germany is reportedly “quietly” contacting partners in France and the UK to propose creating a European alternative to the US nuclear umbrella.

The main reason why Germany - along with many other EU members - has purportedly started to look at an autonomous European nuclear defense system is that "they have serious doubts" about whether a possible second Trump presidency "will continue to protect Europe in the future," Mikael Valtersson, a former officer of the Swedish Armed Forces, said in an interview with Sputnik.

"Many European politicians are skeptical not only about Trump's commitment, but the entire Republican party's commitment to European security," Valtersson, who is also a former defense politician and chief of staff with the Sweden Democrats, pointed out.

The entire situation is "a sign of the fragility of EU-US relations," according to him. "The rise of Donald Trump [who earlier vowed that if elected, he would ‘encourage’ Russia ‘to do whatever... they want’ to NATO members who are 'delinquent' in paying their alliance budget ‘bills’] and a transformation of the Republican Party towards MAGA conservatism has clearly undermined the old transatlantic link," per Valtersson.

At the same time he remained downbeat about the EU’s ability to create a common European nuclear defense system, which is "very unlikely", not least because “neither France nor the UK is likely to give up their control of their own nuclear forces.”

Valtersson insisted that even if created, the EU’s nuclear capability "would only be a fraction of US or Russian capabilities."

Advanced anti-ballistic and other air defense assets “would probably be able to destroy most of these few nuclear weapons and Europe would risk a devastating nuclear attack in case of a nuclear war, with limited capability to inflict huge damages on an enemy,” the ex-Swedish army officer said, adding that the build-up of an arsenal of nuclear weapons comparable to Russia or the US “would be prohibitively expensive” for the EU.

"Another question which limits the use of a European nuclear deterrence is the question of when it would be used. I doubt leaders in Western Europe would risk starting a nuclear war, which they would lose, to protect Eastern Europe. Another drawback with a limited nuclear deterrent is that it attracts a first strike from enemies. If an enemy did a successful first strike not much would be left of the nuclear forces to respond with. The project is unlikely to be affordable, militarily useful or politically possible," Valtersson said.

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In this vein, he underscored the importance of a European nuclear defense system for the establishment of a unified European defensive policy.

"Without a common nuclear umbrella, a European unified defense will have very limited deterrence capability. This unified defense will also be undermined if France and the UK keep their independent nuclear capabilities. Without a common nuclear umbrella, a unified European defense would be a paper tiger," the former defense politician concluded.

US Nuclear Umbrella: What Prods Germany to Seek Alternative?