NATO foreign ministers met in Sweden to confront the Trump administration’s plan to withdraw US security guarantees for Europe — even in wartime — as the Iran war drains the alliance’s munitions stockpiles. France’s flash composite PMI collapsed to 43.5, its biggest drop in five-and-a-half years. The eurozone private sector contracted at its sharpest since October 2023. The EU Parliament approved tighter steel safeguards. Germany’s manufacturing slipped into contraction, and the UK followed into a downturn. Today’s Europe intelligence brief tracks six decisions converging on the Thursday tape.
01 · EU / NATO — Ministers Confront US Plan to Withdraw European Security Guarantees
NATO foreign ministers gathered in Sweden for a two-day summit dominated by the Trump administration’s announcement that it will incrementally withdraw the US from European security architecture — meaning its support would no longer be guaranteed even in times of war. The exact details of where US support and capabilities will be withdrawn are due Friday.
Sources at NATO confirmed the plan “does change the US contribution to NATO in the event of crisis or conflict.” Secretary General Mark Rutte played down the announcement, noting the administration had long signalled it was pulling away under the “America First” doctrine. The summit also tackled the depletion of the alliance’s critical weapons stocks — Patriot air-defence systems and advanced munitions — expended in the war in Iran, which could leave a shortage of munitions deliveries for Ukraine if the attrition continues. “The question is no longer whether we need to do more,” Rutte said on weapons production.
