Is there any salvation for transatlantic relations?

The transatlantic relationship has been severely damaged since last week. Christoph Heusgen, chairman of the Munich Security Conference, said after a speech by US Vice President JD Vance that he feared that "our shared values ​​are no longer so shared." Heusgen called the conference "a European nightmare."

It wasn't just Vance's speech that irritated the German politician. Vance blamed Europe for its lack of democracy and indirectly called on German parties to cooperate with the partly far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

The message was that the US would only militarily protect Europe if Europeans were on the same political line as Washington.

Vance met with AfD candidate, but not with Scholz

When Vance had already left the Conference, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “That is not how it works, especially not between friends and allies, and we firmly reject it.” Other members of the German government also protested.

"This security conference will feel like a deep cut in a few years," said Friedrich Merz, the Christian Democratic candidate for chancellor, who according to polls has the best chance of becoming the new chancellor after Germany's snap parliamentary elections on February 23. He rejected interference in the German parliamentary elections.

Even in terms of protocol, the US vice president's appearance was a provocation. He spoke privately with opposition leader Merz, but did not meet with Chancellor Scholz. Particularly offensive to both Merz and Scholz was Vance's meeting at his hotel with the co-chair of the Alternative for Germany, Alice Weidel. This party was not invited to the conference for political reasons, and both Scholz and Merz categorically rejected any possibility of cooperation with this political formation.

Negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine

A similar provocation is Washington's stance on the war in Ukraine. In the meantime, it is clear that Donald Trump wants to negotiate peace only with Russian President Vladimir Putin. US-Russian talks are due to begin this week in Saudi Arabia, and the Europeans will apparently be bypassed. In a campaign broadcast, Chancellor Scholz said, "They have to ask us, because it really can't be done without us."

The Americans seem to see it differently. General Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, made it clear in a discussion show "Conflict Zone" hosted by DW in Munich that the Europeans will not sit at the negotiating table and that they can make their own contribution, which is not specified. The Europeans are apparently intended to send ground troops to ensure peace later - Washington has already ruled out the possibility of sending its own forces.

And Ukraine seems to have been bypassed. And that's not all. Everything that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been advocating for since the beginning of the war and what the Ukrainian military is fighting for has been pushed aside by the Trump administration. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has hinted that Ukraine will not regain all of its lost territories and that it will not – no matter what its borders – become a member of NATO.

Both the restoration of territorial integrity and Ukrainian membership in the Western military alliance were the basis of German aid to Ukraine.

In addition, Trump threatened NATO member Canada, which he would gladly turn into an American federal state, and would buy Greenland from Denmark, even forcibly annex it based on economic and military pressure. Such statements were also sharply criticized by German Chancellor Scholz.

To top it all off, there are tariffs on goods imported into the United States from Europe, which would hit the export-oriented German economy hard.

Merc: "Europe must wake up"

Over the past few weeks, Trump and his men have dealt Europe a series of blows. In Berlin, even the worst predictions are considered to have been overcome.

What does this mean for transatlantic relations? Trump's Ukraine envoy Kellogg tried to relativize the American stance: "We say 'America first,' but we never said 'America alone.' We never said our policy was isolationist." He quoted Trump as saying: "If a nation is fighting for sovereignty, we will help them."

In Berlin, as in other European capitals, the realization is spreading that Europeans will be largely left to their own devices in the future. German Chancellor Scholz has already drawn the conclusion: “We must ensure that Europe is strong, sovereign and resilient in overcoming future challenges.” Scholz said this on Monday in Paris at a summit of European politicians, in response to the Munich debacle.

However, Scholz's term is coming to an end soon, and his likely successor, Merz, has said he wants Germany, which is a "dormant middle-sized power," to become a "leading middle-sized power." He now believes that events have confirmed his position: "We have to fulfill this role. We have to realize it in cooperation with others, with France and Poland. Europe expects leadership from Germany, and precisely in a situation where America will gradually withdraw, perhaps even withdraw completely - now is really the time. Europe must wake up, it must take responsibility for its own security."