With the transatlantic alliance on the verge of collapse, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stepped onto the main stage of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to make the case for "European independence", arguing the powerful shifts shaking the global order should be treated as a catalyst for good rather than a cataclysm.
"That geopolitical shocks can – and must – serve as an opportunity for Europe. And in my view, the seismic change we are going through today is an opportunity, in fact, a necessity to build a new form of European independence," she said.
"This need is neither new nor a reaction to recent events. It has been a structural imperative for far longer."
Although this is not the first time von der Leyen has called for greater autonomy, her speech in Davos took on a new meaning against the backdrop of the extraordinary crisis pitting the two sides of the Atlantic against each other.
United States President Donald Trump's threat to impose a 10% tariff on eight European nations, all NATO members, to strong-arm the sale of Greenland, a Danish territory, has upended 80 years of alliance and fuelled serious fears of an irreversible fracture.
