Defence: Crosetto and ministers from France, UK and Germany seek agreements to unite Europe

After Donald Trump's latest slap at Europe, the defence ministers of the main countries of the Old Continent are trying to coordinate to find united positions on support for Ukraine and on defence in general. The appointment in call is for Wednesday: connected will be Guido Crosetto and his colleagues Catherine Vautrin (France), John Healey (UK) and Boris Pistorius (Germany), together with EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilus and EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.

The American disengagement from Europe put in black and white by President Trump in the document on National Strategic Security must push the 27 and also the UK - is Crosetto's vision - to put aside particular interests in order to build convergence on both the industrial and military fronts.

Individual European countries are too small to compete in a world that will be dominated by the US-China duel and with an uncomfortable and aggressive neighbour like Russia. And that is why the confrontation scheduled for Wednesday will aim to find points of agreement on the hottest dossiers, which are interconnected.

The gradual dismantling of the defence 'shield' that the US has historically provided Europe with must be matched by an increase in investment in the sector. There are national armament programmes that must be harmonised as far as possible to avoid overlaps and redundancies.

Italy, for example, collaborates with France on the Samp-T missile system. With the United Kingdom for the sixth-generation Gcap fighter. With Germany for the Leopard 2 tanks. Thus, there are already synergies and joint ventures between the industrial systems of the four countries that could be further strengthened to cope more effectively with the new threats.