Europe must prepare for Trump to drop NATO protection: Germany's Merz

The front-runner to be Germany's next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said that Europe cannot rely on US President Donald Trump honouring NATO mutual defence obligations and must become more capable of defending itself, reported dpa.

"We have to be prepared for the fact that Donald Trump will no longer unconditionally honour the NATO treaty's promise of mutual assistance," Merz, the leader of the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU), said in a Friday appearance on public broadcaster ZDF.

"That's why I think it's important that the Europeans make a really big effort now to at least be able to defend the European continent on their own," Merz said.

Merz said that Germany should also very seriously discuss being included under the nuclear weapons umbrella from the two other nuclear powers in the NATO alliance, the United Kingdom and France.

Nuclear defence arrangements with the UK and France would raise "a whole series of very complex questions," including who has final say over any decision to fire such weapons, Merz said.

He also acknowledged that the French have made such offers before, which were left unanswered.

"The fact is that we have to talk to the British and French - to both European nuclear powers - about the question of whether nuclear sharing, or at least nuclear security, from Great Britain and France could not also be used for us," Merz said.

The German opposition leader, whose conservative bloc holds a clear lead ahead of Sunday's national election, was asked whether he would bet "everything you have" on Trump honouring NATO's Article 5, which requires NATO members to defend each other if attacked.

"I wouldn't bet everything I have on any question," Merz said, "and certainly not on this one."