The Only Way to Save Europe

MAURIZIO MOLINARI is a columnist and former Editor in Chief of La Repubblica and the author of La scossa globale: L’effetto-Trump e l’età dell’incertezza (The Global Shock: The Trump Effect and the Age of Uncertainty).

The European Union today faces a set of external challenges that threaten its very existence. In December 2025, Pentagon officials told European diplomats that the continent must assume leadership of NATO by 2027, suggesting that the transatlantic alliance may be coming to an end. Meanwhile, Washington’s decision to go to war with Iran, made without serious consultation with its European allies, has produced a global energy crisis and raised further doubts about U.S. reliability. And growing Russian military aggression and Chinese commercial and technological pressure pose serious economic and security problems for Europe.

Europe simultaneously faces an acute danger from within. Economic insecurity and immigration are fueling a populist nationalism that could debilitate, if not dismantle, the project of European integration. Far-right parties are gaining ground across the continent and are seeking to return power from Brussels to national capitals. Populist forces are undermining the EU’s collective will, which is making it even more difficult for Europeans to assume responsibility for their own security.