“European Allies were quite supportive of the U.S. decision to use military force against Iran’s nuclear program,” Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow at the Defense Priorities Foundation, told the Washington Examiner. “They were among the first, really, to come out and assert that Iran could not get a nuclear weapon.”
Kavanagh contrasted the European response to the Iran strikes with U.S. partners in the Middle East, who condemned the strike, and with allies in Asia who were concerned about international implications. However, she said she doesn’t expect European allies to make an issue of Trump’s military actions.
“They likely see it as a sign of resolve and strength, which, in the eyes of many Europeans, carries over to other adversaries,” Kavanagh added. “So Trump has now shown his willingness to use military force, and decisively.”
“I think the second thing to keep in mind is that Europe doesn’t necessarily want peace right now in Ukraine,” Kavanagh said. “They (European nations) want to keep supporting Ukraine so Ukraine can keep fighting in hopes that time will be on Ukraine’s side, so a delay in the U.S.’s focus on pushing hard or coercing Ukraine into a peace deal may not be a bad thing.”
“Hopefully, Putin will see [the Iran strikes] and hopefully see that Trump is not a pushover,” Kavanagh said.
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