European Union (EU)

European Parliament calls for deeper EU-Canada cooperation to tackle security threats and boost trade amid rising geopolitical tensions

Given the current turmoil in the international order, the EU must elevate its strategic partnership with Canada to a new level, Members of the European Parliament say, pointing to shared interests and values.

In a report adopted on Wednesday, 2026.03.11, MEPs called for deeper EU-Canada cooperation to tackle security threats and boost trade amid rising geopolitical tensions.

To address security threats such as Russia’s war against Ukraine, hybrid attacks, terrorism, foreign interference and China’s assertiveness and economic coercion, MEPs call for increased cooperation with Canada. They stress the need to implement the security and defence partnership in full, complementing NATO’s efforts through initiatives such as Security Action for Europe (SAFE) and the ReArm Europe plan/Defence Readiness 2030.

More at the European Parliament Press Release: Stronger EU-Canada partnership amid global turmoil

With US’s credibility eroding, Europeans are looking for alternatives to American extended nuclear deterrence

Rafael Loss, European Council on Foreign Relations, writes:

America’s credibility is in tatters. According to ECFR’s latest public opinion poll, fewer Europeans than ever consider the United States under President Donald Trump “an ally that shares our interests and values”. This shift has been building since at least February 2024, shortly after Trump encouraged Russia to attack “delinquent” US allies on the campaign trail—an intervention that crystallized fears about Washington’s reliability and fuelled Europeans’ desire for alternative models of nuclear deterrence.
Britain and France, Europe’s two nuclear-armed NATO allies, are central in the resultant conversations. Britain’s nuclear weapons have long been committed to the defence of the alliance, whereas France’s deterrent sits outside of the NATO framework. As such, French president Emmanuel Macron’s address on nuclear deterrence, which is due to take place on March 2nd, is sure to draw particular scrutiny.
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America’s eroding credibility means that it remains necessary for France and Britain to retain their nuclear forces, especially when considering future NATO security. However, to become instruments of non-proliferation or escalation management, they require development. To borrow from the latest US Strategic Posture Commission, French and British nuclear forces—as the core of a future European strategic deterrent—likely need to grow in size and change composition (or both) to account for structural changes in US defence strategy and Trump-specific hits to US credibility. But they would not have to replicate the US posture to achieve this.
Moreover, France, Britain and their European partners would also have to agree on joint rhetoric and actions to signal resolve and capability in European deterrence. This is not only to assure each other, but also to deter potential adversaries.

Fewer Europeans consider the US under Trump “an ally that shares our interests and values”

Célia Belin and Pawel Zerka, at the European Council on Foreign Relations, write:

Across Europe, perceptions of the superpower have further deteriorated since November 2024, when Trump was re-elected. The most-shared perspective in each country, even in traditionally NATO-loving Denmark, Poland and the UK, is that the US is only a “necessary partner” rather than “an ally that shares our interests and values”. That puts it roughly on a par with India, Turkey or even China. In some countries—including Bulgaria, France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland—a quarter or more of the respondents consider the US as a rival or even an adversary.
Only in some countries—Hungary, Poland and the UK—does this issue strongly divide the public. Three Trumpist parties in those places—Fidesz, Law and Justice (PiS) and Reform UK—are Europe’s main outliers. Many of their voters still see the US as the EU’s (or, in the UK’s case, “their country’s”) ally. But this perspective is not widely shared by supporters of other European new-right parties, including the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Brothers of Italy (FdI) and the National Rally (RN) in France. Views on the US have hardly shifted in those three electorates, despite an eventful year and MAGA’s vocal ambitions to bring them closer to its orbit. Moreover, some such parties’ voters (for example, those of the AfD or FdI) have become more critical of what Trump means for American voters than they were a year ago.

A revised Cybersecurity Act to strengthen the EU’s cybersecurity resilience and capabilities

The European Commission on Monday, January 19, 2026, proposed a new cybersecurity package to strengthen the European Union’s cybersecurity resilience and capabilities in the face of these growing number of attacks.

A proposal for a revised Cybersecurity Act enhances the security of the EU’s Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) supply chains. It ensures that products reaching EU citizens are cyber-secure by design through a simpler certification process. It also facilitates compliance with existing EU cybersecurity rules and reinforces the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) in supporting Member States and the EU in managing cybersecurity threats.

Source:

European Commission strengthens EU cybersecurity resilience and capabilities: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_105

Europe is again considering setting up the equivalent of a UN Security Council

EU officials and leaders are getting behind the idea, while lawmakers are drafting legal options.

“We lack a proper united leadership platform to discuss the most important European defense issues,” EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said last week. “It’s now an urgent task to turn this idea into reality.”

Sergey Lagodinsky, a German European Parliament lawmaker and vice president of the Greens group, is proposing a council gathering the leaders of Europe’s big six — Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland and the U.K. — alongside two rotating seats for smaller countries and the European Parliament president.

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An attack on Greenland “would make America weaker, not safer”

Greenland is not a marginal issue for Europeans. Threats against it cut to the heart of the idea of Europe, of sovereignty, international law and trust. Key European leaders recently stressed they are united in their position that it is up to Denmark and Greenland to decide their own fate — and no one else. The potential for a crisis is real, and what is most confounding is that this would be a crisis that is entirely unnecessary and easily avoidable.
Threatening to annex territory belonging to a NATO ally strikes at the very foundation of the alliance. NATO is not merely a military grouping; it is a community of liberal democracies that has endured precisely because its members trust — and do not threaten — one another. They consult, negotiate and resolve disputes peacefully. This shared political culture is not a luxury — it is NATO’s greatest strategic asset. It sets us apart from those that depend on threats and tricks to keep their “friends” together.
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Europe is entering a new state of alert in the face of US hostility

Europe has entered a new state of alert in the face of US open hostility in areas that go beyond simple economic and technological competition and touch the deepest core of strategic and security issues.

A day after US military and civilian forces staged an illegal incursion into Venezuela, during which President Nicolás Maduro was kidnapped and captured and transported to New York City, Trump asserted that his country needs Greenland — an autonomous territory belonging to Denmark, a member of NATO.

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Europe and allies are working out plans should US make move on Greenland

France is working with partners on a plan over how to respond should the Americans act on its threat to take over Greenland, Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday, January 7, 2026.

Barrot said the subject would be raised at his meeting with the foreign ministers of Germany and Poland later in the day.

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