If the left in Europe is acting in disarray on weapons

A disunited people, between those who align themselves with the new course and those who remain behind. It is that of the European left, a collateral victim of the irruption of the Donald Trump hurricane on the international scene that is redefining relations with NATO allies, thus directly involving the Old Continent. It goes in no particular order: whether in government or in opposition, one part of it pushes for state investments in the defense sector, the other is categorically opposed and throws down the gauntlet to the president of the United States. Who goes straight ahead regardless. Washington demands that Europe do its part and not rest on its economic efforts destined for the Atlantic Alliance, making it clear that, given this state of affairs, it is ready to exit. London, as Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced yesterday, is therefore preparing for the most conspicuous intervention since the Cold War. As announced in the Commons, the United Kingdom is committed to increasing defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027: a commitment, Starmer assured, that will last for the rest of the legislature and that will translate into 13.4 billion pounds more per year for the military sector. Downing Street does not hide the fact that Trump's return represents a turning point in this sense and admits that the tenant of the White House, where Starmer will visit tomorrow, is right in reiterating that Europe "must do more".

DENMARK Mette Frederiksen, head of the Danish Social Democratic government, is on the same wavelength. 6.7 billion euros are ready for the next two years to strengthen the nation's military forces, not out of fear that Trump will actually invade Greenland, but to deal with Russian threats. "It is Denmark's security that is at stake," Frederiksen said, criticizing the cuts of recent decades: "It must never happen again." History teaches us that Poland knows Moscow's threats very well, having been on high alert since the invasion of Ukraine began three years ago. With the program launched by Donald Tusk's government, which includes progressive currents, Warsaw should be the most committed to public spending on defense, increasing to 4.7% of GDP: in relation to its economy, it would become the largest "contributor" to NATO. Already in 2024 it has allocated over 33 billion, leaving Italy behind, where the broad PD – M5S camp cultivates very different ideas.

Democratic secretary Schlein has never hidden her aversion to NATO's economic objectives, so much so that in 2023 she accepted the proposal of the now former German chancellor Olaf Scholz to postpone the 2% of GDP target for military spending by five years. Finding a common position in the Democratic Party is an impossible mission: between appeals for a "shared European line" and doubts about the step back dictated by the leadership, it is a general break-in. More irredentist is Giuseppe Conte's 5 Star Movement, always on the front line against Italian military aid for Kiev: stolen money, he punctually repeats, from families in difficulty. A pasionario on a par with Spanish socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez who, unlike Starmer, sent Trump's messages back to the sender. No acceleration, Madrid aims to calmly reach - in 2029 - the target of 2% of GDP for defense: the 5% requested by the Republican administration is not even considered. In 2024 it allocated 17 billion, in five years it should rise to 36, but we will talk about it again.

THE BERLIN KNOT As for Germany, where the hypothesis of a Grosse Koalition between CDU/CSU and SDP is becoming concrete, the new Chancellor Friedrich Merz intends to keep his electoral promise to exceed the constitutional limit of public debt to divert 200 billion euros to defense: a huge sum to contribute to European independence from America. The Social Democrats seem in favor, as leaked by the leader of the Bundestag group, Rolf Muetzenich – effectively renouncing the Scholz line. However, votes are needed: having to modify a debt threshold established by the constitution, a qualified majority of two thirds of parliament is needed. The far left cannot be counted on: the AfD would remain skeptical. There is a sense of disturbance with this Trumpian cyclone.