Nato leaders will gather in The Hague tomorrow, where they are expected to agree to sharply raise military spending.
But as Canada, Germany, France, and other countries in the 27-nation EU pour money into protecting their own territories and preparing for a future rife with geopolitical tension, they are also striking new alliances.
They are seeking to pull closer together, while also moving to be less dependent on an increasingly capricious US.
“We have an excellent partnership, between two strong democracies, bound by historic ties, and connected by a trade partnership that is dynamic, fair and open,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in Brussels, as she greeted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“It is time to go to the next level, to step up the intensity of our partnership.”
Von der Leyen called the new security and defence agreement with Canada “the most comprehensive we’ve ever concluded”.
And, speaking more bluntly, she added, “As the saying goes, hard times reveal true friends”.
Canada’s new deal with the EU will pave the way for the country to sign on to the signature programme in Europe’s push to ratchet up its military armament, a €150 billion ($290b) defence procurement plan.
The money is meant to fund big joint projects, but there’s a catch. Only 35% of the funds dedicated to any project carried out under the programme can be used to purchase weapons from countries that are not signed on to the plan.
To gain full access to the programme for their national defence industries, countries have been striking defence agreements with the EU. Britain signed one in May, and Australia concluded one last week.
The US has no such agreement, which means that the number of F-35 bombers, Patriot air-defence systems and other US-made materials that can be purchased through the programme will be limited.
For Carney, Canada’s participation in the European Union’s defence industrial programme is an early win as he tries to make good on a promise to push for a new trade deal with the US, while also cultivating deeper economic and strategic alliances with other countries.
The agreement, which the New York Times first reported in March, will bolster Canada’s defence industry by giving it better access to EU contracts.
A 2022 review found that about half of Canada’s defence products were exported, overwhelmingly to the US.
The EU agreement flexes Canada’s independence from the US while offering the Canadian defence industry a new source of income.
“It’s crucial for Canada, but I also think it shows a way forward to the world,” Carney said today.
For Canada, forming tighter bonds with foreign partners is especially crucial as Trump regularly questions the country’s very sovereignty.
Trump has obsessed about making Canada the 51st state — a threat that catapulted Carney, a political novice, to win federal elections in April on an anti-Trump ticket.
A recent poll found that nearly 50% of Canadians were interested in pursuing a bid for Canada to join the European Union — an aspiration that EU officials have said is flattering, but impossible.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Jeanna Smialek and Matina Stevis-Gridneff
©2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES
