Canada Moves Closer To Europe

As Canada is threatened by President Trump, talks aimed at letting it join a project to expand the E.U.’s military industry are underway. 

An agreement would allow Canada to help build European fighter jets and other equipment at its own industrial facilities.

The goal is to strengthen Europe’s defense industry and offer Canada a credible alternative to the U.S. market, officials said. Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, this week visited Paris and London in his first overseas trip since taking office, calling Canada “the most European of non-European countries.”

Canada has been a regular U.S. contractor, and its factories produce munitions, tanks, aircraft, technological defense systems and naval ships. A review in 2022 found that the top destination of its military equipment, by far, was the U.S.

The partnership, and the E.U. initiative, will take years to bear fruit.

European defense has been falling behind because of underinvestment and U.S. dominance, a situation that became more apparent as the drive to arm Ukraine depleted E.U. members’ arsenals.