
Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) called out European countries for spending significantly less on defense after the end of the Cold War, pushing the burden onto Americans to pay the bill.
The American politician has been touring through Europe to try to better understand the money that Congress sends to other nations.
Europe must play a bigger role in its own security. Read my op Ed in the FT:https://t.co/oATNmpdMJx
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) February 19, 2024
“As the American defense budget nears $1 trillion per year, we ought to view the money Europe hasn’t spent on defense for what it really is: an implied tax on the American people to allow for the security of Europe,” Vance wrote in an opinion column.
The Ohio politician believes that America “has provided a blanket of security to Europe for far too long” and that the continent must begin taking defensive measures into its own hands.
“There is frankly no good reason that aid from the U.S. should be needed,” Vance continued. “Europe is made up of many great nations with productive economies. They ought to have the capacity to handle the conflict, but over decades they have become far too weak.
He noted that this wasn’t intended to be an anti-Ukraine or pro-Russian opinion like many dissenters of his may paint it as but rather a pro-Europe call of arms.
If you haven’t seen it yet, Senator JD Vance is in Munich taking the failed foreign policy establishment to task, and it’s glorious:
"Germany is the one country in NATO that did not follow the stupid Washington Consensus and allow their country to be deindustrialized. Yet at the… pic.twitter.com/nRCQNAsVSF
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 18, 2024
“The question each European nation needs to ask itself is this: Are you prepared to defend yourself? And the question the U.S. must ask is: If our European allies can’t even defend themselves, are they allies, or clients?” he wrote.
The Senator calls the current justification for military aid dependent on “contemporary domino theory” but that “the time has come for Europe to stand on its own feet.”
Vance claimed that the continued military support that America provides to European nations is weakening them rather than strengthening the nations.
He claims that there is “European power atrophy under an American protectorate” and for the strength of these nations, they must take defense into their own hands.
Vance believes that European countries must work to rebuild “their industrial and military capabilities” so that America can have “allies in Europe, not client states.”