Brothers in Spirit - How Merz, Macron and Starmer Are Shaping Europe's Response to Trump's Retreat

It is a quiet revolution, initiated not with fanfare but with treaties, train journeys and sober press statements. While Donald Trump once again shakes the transatlantic alliance from Washington, a new triangle of determination is growing on the European continent: Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and Keir Starmer are drawing conclusions - quietly, but decisively. What was once based on American security is now to be transferred to European responsibility. On Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signed the so-called “Kensington Treaty” in London - a far-reaching bilateral agreement covering defense, economic cooperation and joint strategic planning. A week earlier, Starmer and French President Macron had already announced coordination of their nuclear arsenals. And in May, all three traveled together by train to Ukraine - a symbolically powerful act of European unity, the likes of which had not been seen in decades. But that is only the visible part of a profound process. A joint headquarters of the “Coalition of the Willing” - an informal alliance to support Ukraine, independent of American leadership - is currently being established in Paris. A Europe-led peacekeeping mission on Ukrainian soil has long been in internal preparation. On Friday, the EU adopted its 18th sanctions package against Russia. And diplomatically, new formats are being tested, beyond the major forums such as NATO or the G7. The goal is to be able to act without becoming entangled in the usual gridlocks - or, as one analyst put it, to create a system that “breaks the glass in case of emergency.”

The new alliance is not intended as a counterpart to NATO - officials in Berlin, London and Paris emphasize this - but rather as a supplement. Yet the direction is clear. On Thursday, Merz openly spoke of a “profound transformation of the European security architecture and transatlantic relations such as we have not seen in a long time.” The new reality is called: taking responsibility - out of necessity, but with a clear will. Starmer, whose course is aimed at rapprochement with Europe after Brexit, described the agreement with Germany as the first of its kind. And Macron, who has been advocating for European autonomy for years, now finds new partners at eye level thanks to this new momentum. What began quietly with the US withdrawal under Obama and accelerated with Trump's election in 2016 has now taken shape. The decisive catalyst was, of all people, Trump’s Vice President J. D. Vance, who in February 2025 accused Europe of abandoning democracy and freedom of expression. At the same time, Trump repeatedly expressed doubts about Article 5 of the NATO Treaty - the mutual defense clause that had been Europe’s security anchor for decades. The answer did not come through escalation but through parallel structures. “They are not acting against the US,” as military historian Lawrence Freedman puts it, “but they are making decisions - and taking responsibility for them.” Especially Friedrich Merz has sharpened his foreign policy profile in the first months of his chancellorship. Since his election victory in February, he has repositioned Germany in foreign policy - with the goal not only of regaining European leadership but also of securing it financially. He announced his intention to raise Germany’s defense budget to five percent of gross domestic product - a drastic shift both symbolically and strategically for a country that had long embraced military restraint. That this course has also prompted Macron to commit to higher defense spending shows the far-reaching impact of the paradigm shift.

At the same time, all three are striving to maintain a constructive relationship with Trump - or at least to give the impression that Europe is finally taking its defense into its own hands. Merz, for example, promoted tougher sanctions against Russia in Washington and coordinated a European armaments program to finance American weapons for Ukraine. But behind the scenes, concern is growing. Hints that US troops could be withdrawn from Europe have recently become more explicit - including from Trump’s Secretary of Defense. In Berlin, it is openly acknowledged that preparations are being made for “all scenarios” - regardless of how Washington behaves in the coming months. Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, recently summed up the dynamic aptly: “Britain, France and Germany increasingly see themselves as pillars of European security - at a time when America is less or no longer present in Europe.” What they are building is not yet a formal system like NATO. But it is the beginning of institutionalization - European, capable of action, determined. And it is a signal that is likely to resonate far beyond the Atlantic. Because, as Steven E. Sokol of the American Council on Germany warns: Those who disrupt the order should not be surprised if others begin to rewrite it.