Opinion | As Doha Forum made clear, Europe is losing its seat at the table
Consumed by Ukraine, the EU has effectively retreated from global engagement. An urgent foreign policy recalibration is needed
At the forum, the message from US ambassador to Nato Matthew Whitaker was blunt and unequivocal: the European Union should take responsibility for its own defence; this is not America’s job. Pressed about US commitment to European security, Whitaker said that while the United States would remain a strong ally, “we have expectations”.
These expectations, he explained, encompass increased defence spending and living up to traditional shared values such as greater protections for freedom of speech.
European delegates are concerned the Trump administration has deprioritised democracy, with its strategy document stating a willingness to work with “governments with different outlooks with whom we nonetheless share interests and who want to work with us”. This signals the administration’s preference for economic opportunism over ideological alignment – a world view increasingly at odds with Europe’s stated values.