US ambassador slams EU's 'Buy European' weapons push as ‘self-interest’

Preference for European-made arms could disrupt the transatlantic defence industrial base and benefit Europe’s "enemies", Ambassador Andrew Puzder warns.

The European Union's push to favour its domestic arms industry risks "alienating allies" and fragmenting the transatlantic defence industrial base, the US's Ambassador to the EU, Andrew Puzder, has told Euronews.

Speaking at Euronews' Defence and Space summit in Brussels on Wednesday, Puzder said: "Only our enemies benefit when we lose focus on making sure we have the most effective weapons, supporting our mutual defence.

"One attack by a powerful adversary on a member state, and we’ll all be glad that we focused on weapon superiority rather than regional economics," he added.

Puzder also said that when lives are at stake, "capability and availability should determine the solution, not geography."

The European Commission and EU states have tabled proposals to favour domestic arm manufacturers in order to reduce European reliance on US-made arms amid signs of fractures in the transatlantic alliance under Donald Trump.

The Pentagon has fiercely opposed the move, despite the US administration heaping pressure on NATO's European allies to become more independent in their self-defence.

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