As the war in the Middle East has reached a new phase, a new parallel discussion has begun again. That of the role of NATO, as well as the possibility of the formation of a “European NATO”. More specifically, the creation of a defense-military organization in which as many European states as wish will participate, in the event that the well-known NATO essentially ceases to exist, if the withdrawal or “deactivation” of the USA takes place. However, if things really get to that point, it is good to know that no one needs to reinvent the wheel! Everything is already provided for in the European treaty.

At first, we should look at the big picture, as our friends on the other side of the Atlantic tend to say. On February 28, 2026, the US and Israel attacked Iran, considering that the diplomacy of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had essentially exhausted its capabilities. President Trump’s personal envoy, Witkoff himself had stated that there was no room for negotiation with the Iranians, as the latter had essentially deceived the US and its allies regarding the level of enrichment of uranium they had, which, having exceeded perhaps 60% with an upward trend towards 90%, was almost suitable for the creation of nuclear weapons. This was, after all, the central political argument that led to the start of military operations – and not the fall of the totalitarian Islamist regime.

Alongside the above argument, of course, the oil argument must be cited. The US, wanting to seriously damage Iran’s economic capabilities and its relations with China, especially in view of a visit by the US president to Beijing, is trying to cut off the Tehran-Beijing oil flow in order for American LNG to take a better place on the global energy map. The Chinese, of course, did not sit idly by and, no matter how quietly they move, they actively support the Iranian regime by providing information regarding American targets in the Persian Gulf countries.

Given the situation, Donald Trump has often complained about NATO allies. He does not hesitate to state in all tones that, while the United States supports its allies, if the opposite happened, it would be alone. Of course, it should be noted here that Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) regarding the collective defense clause has been activated only once to date and that was in favor of the United States immediately after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on the “Twin Towers”. At that time, that Al Qaeda attack was considered, according to the treaty’s provisions, an attack against all NATO members and led to the US attack on Afghanistan with a coalition of allied forces.

However, what the American president, as well as other public figures, are right about is the accusation of low defense spending that most European states are included in. The eight-plus decades since the end of World War II and the founding of NATO had ensured Europeans a prosperity protected by American weapons and paid for by NATO contributions.

Greece, Poland and a few other countries in the alliance are an exception to the above rule for reasons of geopolitical needs, having long ago fulfilled the Trump “mandate” of 2% of national defense spending, with the US president pushing for an increase to 5%.

The war in the Middle East brings to the table a big political question: When the crisis is over, will NATO continue to exist as we know it? No one can answer that question with certainty.

What can be said with relative certainty, however, is that the time has probably come for European states to take collective defense initiatives.

It may have escaped the attention of many, but three different European Union military/aeronautical operations are currently operating in the respective fields.

Initially, the EU operation “IRINI” in the Libyan Sea, which began in 2020, with the main objective of enforcing the UN arms embargo on Libya, preventing illegal oil exports and combating human trafficking in the Mediterranean. Greece participates in this operation with frigates and aerial surveillance assets, having also assumed the operational command of the operation on several occasions.

Furthermore, since 2024, the EU operation “ASPIDES” has been successfully carried out in the Red Sea to protect international shipping from attacks by the Yemeni Houthis, who, it should be noted, are an important military ally of Iran. To date, more than 1,600 attacks on commercial ships have been prevented. The operational command is permanently exercised by a Greek Navy officer based in Larissa, while the at-sea command is rotated every six months.

Third, informal, but obviously the most important for Greece of all, is the recent dispatch of Greek frigates and warplanes to Cyprus in defense of the Republic of Cyprus after the attacks of two unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) by Hezbollah of Lebanon on the British bases of Akrotiri. In a relatively short period of time, the Greek presence was assisted by a European flotilla with the participation of France, Italy, Germany, Holland and Spain, which sails steadily around the island with the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle as its operational center. With a long delay, the British destroyer HMS Dragon also arrived on the island, too.

All of the above is clear proof that when Europe wants, it can. Yet, since it is to be expected that a Union of 27 states will almost never find common ground on foreign policy and defense issues, there are already provisions in the treaties for the so-called Permanent Structured Cooperation. According to this, nine member states can strengthen their cooperation among themselves, including common defense, if they wish so, regardless of the opinion of the rest.

Given the financial support for equipment through the SAFE program, we can reach a rather optimistic conclusion for now.

After all, Donald Trump gave a very nice gift to Europeans. He woke them up!

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)