{"id":763190,"date":"2026-02-14T04:00:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T04:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/763190\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T04:00:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T04:00:25","slug":"keir-starmer-to-call-for-europe-to-curb-dependence-on-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/763190\/","title":{"rendered":"Keir Starmer to call for Europe to curb dependence on US"},"content":{"rendered":"

He is expected to say: \u201cWe are not the Britain of the Brexit years anymore”<\/p>\n

Tom Burnett<\/strong> Content Editor<\/p>\n

22:33, 13 Feb 2026<\/p>\n

\"Keir<\/p>\n

Keir Starmer with French president Emmanuel Macron(Image: Stefan Rousseau\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n

Europe must relinquish its overdependence on the United States, Sir Keir Starmer is to tell a major defence summit grappling with antagonism from President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister will also argue for the UK to move closer to the European Union<\/a>, saying turning inwards such as in the Brexit years would amount to a \u201csurrender\u201d of control in a perilous era for geopolitics.<\/p>\n

Sir Keir is rubbing shoulders with around 50 world leaders at the Munich Security Conference, where he has already met with Germany\u2019s Friedrich Merz and France\u2019s Emmanuel Macron.<\/p>\n

The leaders have also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss efforts to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia as the four-year anniversary of Vladimir Putin\u2019s full-scale invasion nears.<\/p>\n

European defence and the future of the transatlantic relationship are on the agenda at the conference, at a time when America\u2019s commitment to Nato has been called into question.<\/p>\n

Tensions flared over Mr Trump\u2019s recent threat to take over Greenland from Nato partner Denmark, and insults directed at various leaders.<\/p>\n

In his speech to the summit on Saturday, the Prime Minister will call for a more European defence alliance and greater autonomy for the continent.<\/p>\n

Sir Keir will say that this should be underpinned by stronger ties between Britain and the EU<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He is expected to say: \u201cWe are not the Britain of the Brexit years anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we know that, in dangerous times, we would not take control by turning inward \u2013 we would surrender it. And I won\u2019t let that happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no British security without Europe, and no European security without Britain. That is the lesson of history \u2013 and it is today\u2019s reality too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister will praise the US\u2019s contribution to European security and say it remains a key ally.<\/p>\n

But as Mr Trump\u2019s administration has upended the international order and denigrated traditional allies in Europe, the bloc must reduce its dependence on the US and take more responsibility for its own defence, Sir Keir will suggest.<\/p>\n

All eyes will be on whether US secretary of state Marco Rubio will take a similar approach to vice president JD Vance, who at last year\u2019s gathering made waves by criticising European countries, including the UK, over free speech and immigration.<\/p>\n

Mr Rubio pointed to a \u201cnew era in geopolitics\u201d before his arrival.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister was allocated a seat next to the US secretary of state at the Ukraine meeting, although Mr Rubio had not arrived by the time the press left the room for the private talks to commence.<\/p>\n

In his speech, Sir Keir will say: \u201cI\u2019m talking about a vision of European security and greater European autonomy, that does not herald US withdrawal but answers the call for more burden sharing in full, and remakes the ties that have served us so well.\u201d<\/p>\n

He will highlight Europe\u2019s failure to make the most of its defence capabilities and call for closer UK-EU defence co-operation \u201cto multiply our strengths and build a shared industrial base across Europe which can turbocharge our defence production\u201d.<\/p>\n

It comes after talks on Britain joining the EU\u2019s new 150 billion euro (\u00a3130 billion) Security Action for Europe (Safe) rearmament fund were reported to have broken down at the end of last year, as the price for entry was thought to be too high.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope is a sleeping giant. Our economies dwarf Russia\u2019s, 10 times over,\u201d Sir Keir will say.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have huge defence capabilities. Yet, too often, all of this has added up to less than the sum of its parts.<\/p>\n

\u201cAcross Europe, fragmented industrial planning and long, drawn out procurement mechanisms have led to gaps in some areas \u2013 and massive duplication in others.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Labour<\/a> leader will also hit out at Reform UK and the Green Party \u2013 \u201cthe peddlers of easy answers on the extreme left and the extreme right\u201d.<\/p>\n

He will add: \u201cIt\u2019s striking that the different ends of the spectrum share so much. Soft on Russia and weak on Nato \u2013 if not outright opposed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd determined to sacrifice the longstanding relationships that we want and need to build, on the altar of their ideology.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe future they offer is one of division and then capitulation. The lamps would go out across Europe once again. But we will not let that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sir Keir\u2019s trip to Germany comes after a tumultuous few weeks domestically, with his premiership rocked by controversy surrounding the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US despite his ties to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He is expected to say: \u201cWe are not the Britain of the Brexit years anymore” Tom Burnett Content…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":763191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-763190","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116066990457047081","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=763190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/763191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=763190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=763190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=763190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}