World
Germany's Weber supports Macron’s call for European nuclear deterrent
With fears over NATO’s credibility, the idea of a homegrown alternative is playing into Germany’s domestic political debate.
A French plan to offer a nuclear umbrella to Europe has met with support from the German MEP who heads the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, playing into the domestic political debate ahead of June EU elections.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the prospect that a second Donald Trump presidency might weaken the transatlantic alliance, has raised the salience of having a homegrown alternative to NATO.
In a TV clip which issued on Thursday (9 May), Weber suggested he favoured plans put forward by French President Emmanuel Macron, and criticised left-wing Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his failure to engage.
“This is an offer of France which we must talk about,” Weber said on a panel hosted by Bavarian TV station BR24, after Macron proposed to extend security guarantees based on nuclear deterrence, adding: “I am disappointed that Olaf Scholz, the federal government, is voiceless, that there is absolutely no answer for this proposal.”
Macron “is broadening the conception of France’s national security from a purely territorial concept into a European one,” Weber said. “He is ready to say: the security order of France is attacked when Lithuania is attacked.”
In a wide-ranging speech on European policy in late April, Macron said France’s nuclear deterrent was an “indispensable element of the defence of the European continent”.
Fears over Europe’s ability to defend itself were raised after Trump suggested he wouldn’t leap to the rescue of allies who didn’t spend enough on their militaries, undermining the treaty commitments that underpin NATO.
France is the only remaining nuclear power within the EU, though it isn’t immediately clear what role Brussels, or MEPs such as Weber, might play in developing the idea.
The European Commission is attempting to coordinate military production by its members to help arm Ukraine, and its President Ursula von der Leyen has said she’ll make defence a central plank of a hoped-for second term in office.
But the EU also includes neutral members such as Ireland and Austria, and is precluded under its founding treaties from buying weapons directly.
In February, Scholz – a socialist who leads a coalition that also includes the green and liberal parties – told German newspaper the Süddeutsche Zeitung, “I don’t think much of this debate” concerning a European nuclear guarantee, citing NATO membership and the country’s decision not to seek its own atomic weapons.
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered tests of tactical nuclear weapons, in an apparent warning to Ukraine’s allies to back off.
Trump congratulates Colombia presidential candidate
Trump congratulated Abelardo De La Espriella, known by many as ‘El Tigre,’ following an initial ballot count. While not officially called, the narrow lead signals a potential rightward shift for Colombia. (Reuters.)
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Progressive candidate Iván Cepeda on Wednesday conceded Colombia’s presidential election to conservative outsider Abelardo de la Espriella, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump.
The concession came days after Cepeda initially refused to acknowledge defeat following preliminary results that showed de la Espriella as the apparent winner.
“At this stage of the vote count, I have decided to accept the result emerging from that process, which indicates that Abelardo de la Espriella is the new President of the Republic,” Cepeda said in an address to the nation.
“I do so as an act of democratic responsibility.”
TRUMP SAYS COLOMBIA’S ‘EL TIGRE’ WILL BE A ‘GREAT PRESIDENT’ AS SOCIALIST OPPONENT LAUNCHES LEGAL CHALLENGE
Ivan Cepeda speaks during a campaign rally in Cali, Colombia, on June 6, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)
De la Espriella, a businessman and lawyer who had never previously run for office, known to his supporters as “El Tigre,” defeated Senate member Iván Cepeda by one percentage point in a remarkably close election, according to officials.
“The vote count shows an extraordinarily narrow margin between the two options vying for the trust of the Colombian people,” he said. “Less than 1% of the vote separates the candidacies that participated in this contest.”
Despite his concession, Cepeda made serious allegations that de la Espriella’s victory was influenced by “foreign interference” by the United States and the use of artificial intelligence to manipulate voters.
“During this process, we denounced the open and improper foreign interference in Colombia’s internal affairs—particularly the interventions by the United States government, and specifically the interventions by President Donald Trump in support of Abelardo de la Espriella’s candidacy,” he said.
He further accused the opposing campaign of widespread vote-buying and unethical tactics that he said undermined the legitimacy of the election results.
ANTI-CARTEL HARDLINER CHANNELS TRUMP IN BID TO END COLOMBIA’S LEFTIST ERA IN PIVOTAL ELECTION
Abelardo de la Espriella delivers a speech to supporters during a campaign rally in Palmira, near Cali, Colombia on May 14, 2026. (Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP via Getty Images)
President-elect de la Espriella will begin his four-year term in August.
“Starting August 7, we will work with determination to consolidate a common agenda that strengthens the security, freedom, and prosperity of our nations,” de la Espriella in a post on X.
The result will effectively end outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s leftist influence on the state and the policies Cepeda had pledged to continue if he won the election.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, left, and President Donald Trump are shown in separate photographs. (Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images; Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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A core pillar of Petro’s signature agenda was his “total peace” strategy, aimed at opening negotiations with remaining guerrilla forces, drug cartels, and armed paramilitary groups in an effort to end Colombia’s decades long internal conflict.
In contrast, de la Espriella has pledged a more hardline approach, including a militarized crackdown on criminal organizations, proposals to build mega-prisons, expand fossil fuel fracking, and revive the controversial practice of aerial glyphosate spraying to eradicate coca crops.
The president-elect, who holds dual Colombian and U.S. citizenship, has also said he plans to add Colombia to the Trump-dubbed “Shield of the Americas,” a proposed coalition aimed at coordinating efforts against criminal groups in Latin America.
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Ten years after the UK voted to exit the European Union, the debate over Brexit’s legacy is far from over. MEPs Barry Andrews (Renew Europe) and Sander Smit (European Conservatives & Reformists) go head-to-head on whether Brexit has strengthened or weakened Europe—and whether Britain could or should one day return to the bloc.
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For Irish MEP Barry Andrews, the answer is clear. He argues that leaving the EU was a mistake and a “total disaster” for the UK, pointing to years of political instability and economic challenges since the referendum. He also contends that Brexit has ultimately strengthened support for the European project, stating that “there is nobody looking to leave the European Union anymore.”
Dutch MEP Sander Smit takes a different view, saying the EU still misses “the UK’s crucial voice for fiscal and financial discipline” and warning against a more centralised Europe. “Our future lies in a stronger partnership,” he says. “Let the UK and EU countries move beyond the past and work together as natural, sovereign allies.”
The Ring is hosted by Méabh Mc Mahon, produced by Luis Albertos Altarejos and Amaia Echevarria, and edited by Vassilis Glynos.
You can contact us at: thering@euronews.com
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