Europe Must Step Up to Ensure Own Defense as US Focus Shifts Elsewhere, EU Says

The European Union’s foreign policy chief said that Europe’s defense and security strategies must remain complementary to NATO.

EU High Representative and Vice-President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas arrives for a European Council meeting to discuss recent developments in transatlantic relations, in Brussels, on Jan. 22, 2026. Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images

Europe must “step up” to ensure its own defense as the United States’ focus shifts away from the continent, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said on Jan. 28.

Kallas said in her keynote speech at the annual conference of the European Defence Agency in Brussels that as the United States “is setting its sights abroad and beyond Europe,” the continent must increase its defense and security capabilities.