NATO Summit: Europe Needs North-East Corridor for Autonomy

Spread love

The Hague Summit Avoids Crisis, But Exposes Strategic Confusion in Europe’s Defence Posture

By TRH News Desk

NEW DELHI, July 1, 2025 — The recent NATO summit in The Hague ended without drama, but beneath the surface calm lies a deeper unease about Europe’s long-term defence strategy. While European leaders pledged to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035—widely viewed as a concession to US President Donald Trump—the outcome has been labelled a superficial success that masks Europe’s enduring military dependence on the United States.

The summit’s primary accomplishment was avoiding what many feared: a US withdrawal from NATO. Trump, though critical of European defence spending in the past, did not repeat his earlier threats to abandon the alliance. The final communiqué reaffirmed NATO’s core principle—Article 5—and designated Russia as the primary threat. But this consensus came at a price, argues Andrew A. Michta in an opinion piece for 19FortyFive: Europe’s strategic autonomy is now more myth than reality.

In the lead-up to the summit, many European leaders who had long resisted spending even 2% of their GDP on defence quickly endorsed the new 5% pledge. This swift acquiescence was widely interpreted as an effort to appease the Trump administration and retain US military support, he argued. Secretary General Mark Rutte was credited with orchestrating the summit’s smooth optics, allowing Trump to declare victory.

Yet beneath the diplomatic gloss, Michta argues the pledge lacks substance. Despite promises to spend more, little was agreed upon in terms of execution. There was no concrete roadmap for integrating or scaling up Europe’s defence capabilities. More importantly, the summit laid bare Europe’s inability—or unwillingness—to act independently of the US.

Critics of the pledge argue that Europe continues to rely on US nuclear deterrence, intelligence, air, cyber, and space capabilities to secure its borders. As a result, the concept of a sovereign European defence force—frequently championed under the banner of “strategic autonomy”—has been rendered obsolete.

Michta asserts that NATO must refocus on building real, hard-power capabilities. The new center of gravity, he suggests, lies in NATO’s “Northeast Corridor”—including Scandinavia, the Baltic states, Poland, and Finland. These frontline states must be bolstered with sustained investment in infrastructure, logistics, and readiness. Romania, too, should receive special focus as part of NATO’s eastern defence posture.

At the same time, Western European countries should pivot from legacy Cold War infrastructure and instead support sustainability, reserves, and industrial production. NATO’s mission has been renewed, Michta notes, but the rhetoric must be matched by rapid, scalable production of weapons and a commitment to building integrated, deployable forces.

Ultimately, the Hague summit may have succeeded diplomatically, but it also served as a wake-up call. Europe must now choose between continuing to defer its security to Washington or investing seriously in its own capabilities—within NATO. The time for symbolic pledges is over; deterrence demands tangible, exercised power.

Follow The Raisina Hills on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn