Alice Rufo, the French director general of international relations and strategy, speaks a joint press conference, alongside British, Italian, Polish and German officials, after the Group of Five (E5) defence ministers’ meeting at Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, in London, Britain, September 10, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Europe must accelerate its rearmament in response to a stark shift in U.S. military doctrine, a French government official said on Tuesday, calling Washington’s new security strategy “an extremely brutal clarification” of its ideological posture.
The U.S. National Security Strategy, made public last week, caused shock across Europe, with a broadside that said the continent was facing “civilization erasure” and that U.S. policy should include “cultivating resistance” within the European Union.
“The new American security strategy is an extremely brutal clarification of the United States’ ideological posture,” Junior Army Minister Alice Rufo told lawmakers at the National Assembly’s weekly question-and-answer session.
“We live in a world of carnivores, Europe is no island, and Europe will be respected only if it knows how to make itself respected,” she said.
Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone and missile strike in the Poltava region of Ukraine. Photograph: State Emergency Service Of Ukraine/Reuters. Kremlin hails Trump’s national security strategy as aligned with Russia’s vision
The remarks from Rufo, who has previously served as President Emmanuel Macron’s deputy national security adviser, are the strongest public comments to date from French officials following the release of the U.S. National Security Strategy.
Rufo, who met Pentagon and other U.S. security officials over the weekend in Washington, said she knew the document was causing internal “debates” within the U.S. administration, especially as to how Russia is described.
Reuters