Washington is demanding that Europe be dependent, and the latest proof came this week in three separate arenas: weapons procurement, information policy, and diplomatic pressure.
The Attack on European Weapons
US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder used a Euronews defence summit in Brussels to attack the European Union's Buy European policy. His argument was that favoring European arms manufacturers only benefits enemies of NATO. The framing is familiar. When Europe underinvests in defence, Washington calls it freeloading. When Europe invests in its industrial base, Washington calls that self-interest which alienates allies.
Puzder said capability and availability should determine procurement, not geography. Translation: geography is fine when the geography is American. This follows the December 2025 attack by Deputy Secretary Landau on ReArm Europe, a programme that prioritised European weapons production and procurement. Landau accused Europeans of pushing American defence business out of Europe.
The pattern is deliberate. Washington wants European money. European capacity is unwanted.
Disinfo2026 and the State Department Tantrum
The same logic now applies to information. A security conference in Lithuania, Disinfo2026, included a panel titled US as a FIMI threat, where FIMI stands for foreign information manipulation and interference. The panel addressed documented American interference in European elections.
The State Department's response was not to argue the evidence. It was to demand answers from European governments about whether they agreed with the panel topic. Embassies were instructed to threaten consequences and a deterioration in relations for those who did. Washington called the comparison to Russia and China a false equivalence, claiming American interference is smaller in scale. The reality is that American interference in Europe is not smaller. It is simply conducted under the label of ally.
Rubio in Athens
While this pressure campaign was running, Secretary of State Rubio was in Greece telling Europe to rouse itself from its long sleep and reignite the fire lit there millennia ago. The speech is the product. The micromanagement is the process.
Washington wants Europe awakened enough to buy American weapons and follow American information priorities, but not awake enough to name American interference or build independent capacity.
Who Resisted, Who Folded
The pressure produced a split.
- Norway, Romania, and Poland stayed in the conference programme.
- France did not withdraw despite an official American approach.
- Canada and Lithuania pulled their support after talks with American officials and asked for their diplomatic logos to be removed from conference materials.
- The European External Action Service was also removed from the official programme after contact with the American side.
Three years ago, that level of capitulation would have been unremarkable. It stands out because others refused.
The Three-Front Competition
The source argument is blunt: Europe will have to compete with the Kremlin on security, with China on economics, and with the United States on politics. A lasting condition. The arrogance toward partners predates Trump. Democratic and Republican elites have both benefited from exploiting European weakness while accusing Europe of weakness.
The American position is structurally contradictory. Washington demands higher European defence spending, then attacks European defence investment when it flows to non-American firms. Washington claims to defend democracy, then punishes European governments for discussing American interference in democratic processes.
For Ukraine, the lesson is direct. A partner that micromanages European conference panels and threatens consequences for discussing documented interference undermines the sovereignty it claims to guarantee. The dependence Washington demands from Europe is the same dependence it has tried to impose on Kyiv.
Europe is beginning to say no. Not everywhere, not consistently, but more openly than before. The illusion is breaking. What replaces it will determine whether Europe becomes a real power or remains a managed market for American weapons and American narratives.