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The announcement that Palantir—a U.S. tech firm with deep intelligence ties—will be supplying NATO’s next-generation AI system should be cause for serious concern across Europe. The implications go well beyond procurement. At stake is sovereignty, security, and trust.
Will this system include a backdoor, giving Washington the ability to surveil or control NATO operations? No one has answered that question. Worse, it’s unclear whether anyone in Europe has had the courage to even ask it. But ask it they must.
The issue isn’t isolated. We now know that the F-35 fighter jets ordered by Germany come with a “kill switch” that allows the U.S. to track—and potentially disable—the planes. That means even Europe’s military assets may not be entirely under European control.
These developments might seem technical or abstract—until we place them in the broader political context. The transatlantic alliance is fracturing. Donald Trump, now openly adopting Kremlin-friendly rhetoric, dismissed Russia’s deadly strike on Sumy as a “mistake,” even as Europe condemned the massacre of 34 civilians.
Meanwhile, EU officials are being warned not to bring personal devices to the U.S. American border authorities are reportedly targeting those who have voiced criticism of U.S. policies. Brussels has started issuing burner phones and scrubbed laptops to its own personnel.
This is not just the erosion of trust. It’s the arrival of a new geopolitical reality—one where alliances are conditional, surveillance is pervasive, and sovereignty is no longer guaranteed.
Europe must confront this moment with clarity. Denial is not strategy. Silence is not diplomacy. If the transatlantic relationship is to endure, it must be based on mutual respect—not silent subordination.
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