Türkiye, a key NATO member, on Monday called on European nations to take primary responsibility for their own security, arguing that over-reliance on the United States is unsustainable. The appeal comes amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and shifting U.S. strategic priorities.

Speaking at a conference in Lisbon, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that Europe faces limited options. “The war in Ukraine and the shifting strategic priorities of the United States leave Europe no choice but to assume greater responsibilities for its own security,” Fidan said, according to a ministry statement.

He framed European security as a collective, existential challenge. “As Europeans, we are all in the same boat… We cannot delegate our security to others,” Fidan asserted, advocating for greater European strategic autonomy.

Simultaneously, Fidan launched a pointed critique of the European Union for marginalizing Türkiye. Despite being a NATO ally and a long-standing EU candidate, Ankara has been kept outside the bloc’s evolving security and defense frameworks, he said.

“Despite its formal commitments to cooperate with non-EU allies, Türkiye has been excluded for years from the EU’s security and defense frameworks,” Fidan stated. He blamed internal EU divisions, contending that “the narrow national agendas of a few member states have taken Europe’s broader strategic interests hostage.”

Türkiye’s NATO membership dates to 1952, and it fields the alliance’s second-largest military, making it a pivotal actor in European and transatlantic security. However, its EU accession talks, which began in 2005, have been frozen for years over political disputes, human rights concerns, and tensions with several member states.

The war in Ukraine has accelerated European debates on defense spending and autonomy. These discussions have gained further urgency as the U.S. signals a desire for allies to bear more of the security burden, particularly with Washington’s growing focus on strategic competition with China.

In this context, the EU has pushed to bolster its own defense initiatives. Türkiye, however, remains largely excluded, a situation Ankara argues weakens Europe’s security at a time of heightened instability. Critics within the EU cite political differences as a barrier to deeper security integration.

Fidan’s arguments align with recent intense pressure from Washington for increased European burden-sharing. This pressure culminated in a landmark agreement at the June 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, where allies agreed to a new spending target of 5% of GDP on overall defense and security by 2035.

The new benchmark, championed by U.S. President Donald Trump, establishes a two-tiered formula: 3.5% of GDP for core military expenditures and 1.5% for security-related areas like cybersecurity and infrastructure. This significantly raises the bar from the previous minimum goal of 2% for defense, which not all members had met.

President Trump hailed the pact as a “big win for the U.S., Europe and Western civilization” and has encouraged allies to purchase American-made equipment with their increased budgets. While most nations accepted the new commitments, several, including Spain and Slovakia, have voiced concerns about the economic feasibility of reaching the 3.5% core spending threshold.