https://www.politico.eu/article/german-minister-to-macron-eus-dependence-on-us-is-sobering-facts/

German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer doubled down Tuesday on her assertion that Europe must continue to rely on U.S. security guarantees, citing “sobering facts” in a response to criticism from French President Emmanuel Macron.

Kramp-Karrenbauer had become embroiled in an unusual public spat with Macron after the latter, in an interview with Le Grand Continent published Monday, criticized her over an op-ed in POLITICO in which she had argued that “Europe still needs America.”

The French president said that he “profoundly” disagrees with Kramp-Karrenbauer’s position and described her argument as “a historical misinterpretation,” claiming that German Chancellor Angela Merkel doesn’t agree either.

In a keynote speech on security policy Tuesday, Kramp-Karrenbauer tried to calm tensions by saying she agrees with Macron that Europe must do more to look after itself. “Only if we take our own security seriously, America will do the same. The French president has just stated this. And I agree with him,” she said.

Yet the defense minister did not back down on her core argument — her insistence that the EU has no choice but to depend on the U.S. as a close partner. “For the foreseeable future” the U.S. will remain “the most important ally in security and defense policy,” Kramp-Karrenbauer told the German army university in Hamburg in a virtual speech.

“Without the nuclear and conventional capabilities of the U.S., Germany and Europe cannot protect themselves. These are the sobering facts,” she added.