Amid the crisis in US-European relations, European People's Party (EPP) leader Manfred Weber has called on EU heads of state and government to start concrete talks on a European "nuclear umbrella", DPA reports.
French President Emmanuel Macron's offer to make the French nuclear arsenal available for this purpose was a "generous offer", especially in light of "new developments in the US", he said in Zagreb after a high-level meeting of the EPP, which unites conservative parties in Europe, news.bg recalled.
"That is why I am categorically in favor of the heads of state and government really accepting this proposal, sitting down together and then considering how this option with French nuclear weapons could be used for European security, stressed CSU Vice-Chairman Weber. I therefore strongly welcome Macron's initiative, as well as that of all those who are now contributing to this discussion. This is necessary."
We recall that Macron had already proposed to Germany and other EU partners talks on European cooperation in the field of nuclear deterrence in 2020 during the first term of US President Donald Trump. However, this met with just as little response from the then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) as from her successor Olaf Scholz (SPD). Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), on the other hand, had already declared his willingness to discuss this during the election campaign and reiterated it during his inaugural visit to Paris as Federal Chancellor in May.
France and the United Kingdom, which is no longer a member of the EU, are the only two European countries that possess nuclear weapons. According to estimates by the SIPRI peace research institute, the US has 1,770 operational nuclear weapons, while France has 280.
NATO's nuclear deterrent is currently based on US nuclear weapons, of which around 100 are believed to still be stationed in Europe - some at the Büchel air base in the Eifel region. In an emergency, they would be deployed by Bundeswehr fighter jets. It is also said that US nuclear bombs are still stationed in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey. There is no official information on this.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had previously strongly criticized Weber's proposal for a joint European army that could play a role in post-war peacekeeping in Ukraine.