Dear European Leaders,

We need a European army for our security.

The US will no longer protect Europe. The Trump administration has made this perfectly clear. During the Munich Security Conference, the US destroyed the transatlantic bond which lasted for 80 years. They then blamed Ukraine for a war Russia started and called Zelensky a dictator. US troops might even leave the European continent as part of a punitive peace imposed upon Ukrainians and Europeans by Putin and Trump. We have been left on our own. Therefore, we need to be able to defend ourselves against aggressors.

While Ukrainians are fighting to survive, and Russia attacks critical infrastructure and interferes in elections all over Europe, the US is turning its back on us and supporting extremist and undemocratic parties all over the continent, like we now see in Romania and Germany. With these actions the US helps Russia’s attempt to destroy European peace.

We must stand with Ukraine and step in where the US is backing out. To do so, we need to be able to operate independently from the US by creating our own capabilities, and at the same time integrating our 27 separate armies to fight as one.

As Zelensky said at Munich: "I really believe that the time has come that the armed forces of Europe must be created.Let's be honest, now we can't rule out that America might say 'no' to Europe on issues that might threaten it. Europe has everything it takes." We need to stop reacting to what the US is doing, and start believing in Europe's own strength.

We need a European Defence Union. We need a common European Armed Forces.

Our demands:
- Appoint a single EU Minister for Defense and abolish the veto for military decisions, so that we can act quickly
- ⁠Create joint European units now, so that we can act independently from the US if necessary
- Develop fully integrated European Armed Forces in the future, so we have one strong army instead of 27 small ones
- Found an EU military academy
- Appoint a single EU representative to NATO
- Let the EU buy military equipment on behalf of Member States, so that we have 1 tank type instead of 17
- Enlarge the Rapid Deployment Capacity and Eurocorps and make them permanent
- ⁠Raise Eurobonds and spend the money on EU-wide defense projects, so that we get more value for less money
- Establish an EU Defense Industry and standardise equipment

In 1950, a European Army was almost created. It didn’t happen precisely because the United States provided a strong alternative through a guarantee that it would defend Europeans from the Soviet Union. Now that that guarantee is gone, it is time to go back to the original idea. All it takes is the will to act.

Please act now to help protect us for the future,