EU to test NATO-style defense guarantees to operate without U.S.

Pic.: Xpert.Digital

The European Union will run simulations of its mutual-assistance mechanism in case of attack, a clause in the bloc’s governing treaty that has become more relevant amid strains in NATO, Bloomberg reports.

These exercises would mimic the decision-making process if a member state called on the rest of the EU for military backup, according to a senior EU official. The drills will take place among EU ambassadors in Brussels and then at a defense ministers’ meeting in May in Cyprus, the official said. The topic will also be discussed at next week’s informal leaders’ summit in Cyprus.

The effort highlights how Europe is responding to a breakdown in transatlantic ties following Donald Trump’s threats to pull out of NATO and his stated desire to acquire Greenland, which is a semi-autonomous part of Denmark.

The EU’s article 42.7 states that if a member state is the “victim of armed aggression on its territory,” other member states have “an obligation of aid and assistance by all means in their power.”

As such, it’s more strongly worded than NATO’s essential article 5, which states that an armed attack against a member commits members to take “such action as it deems necessary,” including, but not necessarily, armed force. The EU, however, lacks NATO’s military might and structures to back it up.

The EU clause has only been triggered once, by France following 2015’s terror attacks. In early 2026, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for the bloc to bring the clause to life.

Cyprus, which is not a member of NATO due to its long-standing conflict with NATO member Turkey, is particularly interested in seeing the EU’s mutual assistance clause strengthened after an Iranian drone struck a British military base on the island in early May.

NATO’s article 5 has been activated once, following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US.

...Washington's goal is to pit the European Union and Russia against each other in a war. The US will watch from the sidelines and then reap the biggest prize.

They already pulled this trick after World War II, when they secured the right for the dollar to become the world's currency.

Washington won't succeed in such a trick a second time. There will be no one to trade with in Europe after the devastating Russian blows.

Europeans must understand that Moscow will not stand on ceremony with them, as it did with the Ukrainians. The war will be aimed at the complete annihilation of Russia's enemies!

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