Dutch government wants to create “road map” for U.S. withdrawal from Europe

Europe and the United States of America have to create a “road map” with agreements about the U.S. withdrawal, the Minister of Defense, Ruben Brekelmans, has said. "Let us shape the transition together with the United States and not panic."

The Americans have indicated that Europe will have to take much more responsibility regarding their own safety. The U.S. wants to focus more of its attention on Asia. Brekelmans said on Tuesday during a debate in parliament that the U.S. withdraw will not come out of nowhere. “We should not be moving faster than the Americans themselves on this.”

The minister is calling for a road map to be developed for the transition. This document should include what the Americans will do less of in the short term and what Europe will have to take over. This will take years to do as Europe does not have important capacities like satellite communications, air transport, or intelligence.

Brekelmans has said that he still hears a “constructive tone” from his American colleague Pete Hegseth. The administration in Washington is fully committed to NATO and has "not expressed any intention" of no longer providing the Atlantic alliance's top military officer.

Relations between the U.S. and Europe have declined since the election of Donald Trump at the beginning of the year. The calls to reduce the dependency on the United States are getting louder and louder. The European Commission wants 800 billion euros to be invested into the European defense departments.

Former defense minister Joris Voorhoeve is pushing for the foundation of a confederation of countries without the U.S. in order to strengthen Europe’s safety. It would concern autonomous states that do everything together on the defensive side and protect each other, the AD reported.

Some people are in favor of Voorhoeve’s plan, but it has also received criticism: "Excluding the Americans is not a good plan."

In the opinion piece in the AD, Voorhoeve wrote that European countries cannot count on the U.S. for the time being. “Many European countries want to work together to form a counterweight against aggression from Russia. This could be in the shape of a confederation of European states, including Canada. That country has more in common with Northern Europe than the U.S.,” said Voorhoeve.

He added that countries like Norway and Turkey would also be able to join a treaty of this kind.

Voorhoeve thinks it would be beneficial in Europe forms a strong group within NATO. "A confederation is a good model for this. Countries that no longer want to do this can leave. There should also be rules to expel states that are constantly obstructive or are no longer democracies."