Munich
The autobahn from Hamburg down to Munich in Germany is not one of the great touristic sights, but the smaller roads and smaller towns in the hinterlands tell their own stories in dialect after dialect, nuances and details, a Europe of cultural diversity, which newly appointed Chancellor Merz wants to strengthen after years of neglect. He promises dynamism, economic reforms, and a strong army. So far, so good ahead of next week’s vitally important NATO-summit.
If the meeting in The Hague delivers as expected, we may finally see the turnaround, which former Chancellor Scholz announced after Russia’s attack on Ukraine in 2022, but never implemented. Scholz is gone and will be remembered for his vacillation. His predecessor, Angela Merkel, is also gone. Ruling in Berlin she exuded the calm of a settled Hausfrau, but contributed with her lack of strategic sense to the weakening of Europe, just as the global order began declining, two important markers on this being Russia´s invasions of Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014.
The Hague Summit will be held in an unprecedented atmosphere. The fact that Donald Trump is expected to be absent is a sign not to be mistaken – that the American century is over. At least in Europe. The US is busy with itself, not with the rest of the world. Trump says he wants to restore America’s greatness. In reality, he is making America smaller and dumber with his attacks on old allies, his economic wars, and his aggressive treatment of American courts, museums, universities, libraries, and other public institutions, culminating so far in his decision – most probably illegal – to employ federal force against a series of demonstrations in California.
His performance in Europe is outright frightening. The US-president indicates a willingness to abandon Ukraine, and he threatens to annex Greenland (a repeat of Russia annexing Crimea?), legally and politically a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Among those seriously upset about this is France´s president Macron, who has announces that on the Sunday prior to the summit in The Hague, he will visit the Greenland capital, Nuuk, accompanied by Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen.
Where will it all end? With an authoritarian and irresponsibly ruled US? With Trump’s re-election for an indefinite term? With an empire led by Trump, masquerading as a new Napoleon or a new Sun King? It seems mad, but the United States for the moment is mad, a mixture of kindergarten and insane asylum, lately to be observed in the split between Donald Trump, the most powerful man in the world, and Elon Musk.
So serious is the global security situation that when NATO leaders gather in The Hague from June 24th to June 26th, they will be looking for alternatives to the United States, for allies in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and the Far East, including Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, South Africa, India and Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand, the Philippines, Japan and Taiwan, countries, which in the words of President Macron, “will no longer tolerate the bullying of the United States”.
For years, the balance of power in NATO meant that the US president was the primus inter pares among the leaders of the alliance. This is no longer the case, and it shows: Trump is In the Hague Trump is expected to be represented by Secretary of State Rubio, who is capable, but spineless, and by Secretary of Defense Hegseth, an intellectually zero. No one will take them seriously, everybody will remember that Trump, in his own infamous words told Vladimir Putin, the warmonger in the Kremlin, that he, the Russian Führer, “can do whatever he wants” to NATO countries, which according to Trump are neglecting their defenses.
In The Hague, glamour will surround Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He is invited for many reasons. Canadians and Europeans will show him their support in the war with Russia, which is also their war. Zelenskyy is being invited as the commander-in-chief of an army, which against all conventional odds continue to hold the eastern flank of Europe and which recently – once again – proved its ability to improvise and to act, destroying or damaging up to 40 Russian strategic fighter jets worth billions of dollars in a spectacular and spectacularly cheap drone strike.
The war in Ukraine is far from ending in defeat for Ukraine. If all goes well, in 10 to 15, maybe 20 years, Ukraine could be a new and important European power, carrying a lot of the military responsibility, now carried by Germany and Poland.
The summit can honor Ukraine’s extraordinary efforts by stating officially, that in practice it considers Ukraine a partner of the alliance and will provide the Ukrainians with all the weapons and other assistance, which they need to drive Russia out of Ukraine and out of Europe. Should this lead to the third collapse of the Russian state since the fall of the tsar in 1917, so be it.
From a political perspective, the meeting will show whether the United States supports NATO, and to what extent Canada and Europe have confidence in Washington – probably precious little.
One of Donald Trump’s closest friends, Senator Lindsey Graham, recently honored Europe with his presence and suggested that at least he understands that without Europe, the United States will lose its centrality in the Western world. Is this an opening to a better transatlantic relationship? Perhaps. Personally, I don’t think that the broken Transatlantic porcelain lying on the floor of the conference room in The Hague can be glued together. But who knows? Only so much, both before and after The Hague, should be obvious: NATO in 2025 is not the United States and its Canadian and European vassals. Nato, if the alliance exists at all, is the United States, Canada, and Europe on a level equal footing. No more dictates, no more foolery in Washington. The American century is over.
Per Nyholm
*These opinions are solely those of the author. The Ukrainian Review does not take any position and is not responsible for the author’s words.
Pierre Nyholm has been a Danish journalist since 1960. He lives in Austria and is a columnist and foreign correspondent for the liberal Danish daily Jyllands-Posten.
Kateryna Yashchuk adapted this text for The Ukrainian Review.
