This is John Batchel, colleague Judy Dempsey in Berlin for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace observes that it isn't Vladimir Putin and Moscow that have obliged Europe, driven Europe, pushed Europe to change, to take care of its own defenses, to take care of its own growth. No, it's another major figure on the globe.

There's Judy Dempsey to explain what's behind the European change of direction,

starting in Berlin, moving to London, on to Paris, all the EU, perhaps all than NATO.

More of this tonight. I think it's actually a moment's... on to Paris, all the EU, perhaps all the NATO.

More of this tonight.

I think it's actually a moment for Friedrich Merz,

who would probably become Chancellor in the coming weeks,

certainly by mid-April.

He knows the old days are over.

He's got no illusions. What is very interesting about this shift in Europe is that it wasn't Russia that generated and encouraged this fundamental shift about security, defence and intelligence in Europe. It was the Trump administration. And this is very, very interesting.

We have seen Russia do so many untold invasions,

whether it was in Georgia or other places and influences

in Belarus and everything.

And somehow it didn't actually fundamentally change the European Union.

The 2022 invasion by Russia of Ukraine did jolt them.

But what is interesting is this Trump administration that is sort of creating an extraordinary intellectual,

political, financial, economic mindset change

in the European Union.

That's very interesting.