Europe ‘failed’ on Trump, Putin’s ‘wrecking ball’ politics: MSC chair

The head of the continent’s largest security forum said Europe was left “completely sidelined” on the global stage as “wrecking ball” politics became the norm.

Speaking to CNBC’s Annette Weisbach before the Munich Security Conference (MSC), the organization’s president, Wolfgang Ischinger, said that it was Europe’s “own fault” for its declining power on the global stage.

“Europe has failed to speak with one voice to and about China; Europe has failed to put forward a clear concept about the future of the Middle East, including how to deal or not to deal with the Iranian nuclear problem,” said Ischinger, a former German ambassador to the United States.

Earlier this week, MSC published its 2026 report, for which Ischinger wrote the foreword. The report warned that “the world has entered a period of destruction policy where great destruction is the agenda of the day.”

The report said US President Donald Trump “is at the forefront of those promising to liberate their countries from the constraints of the current order and rebuild stronger, more prosperous nations”, a movement he argues is “driven by resentment and regret about the liberal course their societies have taken”.

Ischinger told CNBC that Europeans remain “completely on the sidelines” in negotiations over Gaza and Ukraine.

“We have no role. Everything was decided by others,” he said. “When I look at the war in Ukraine, Europe has no place,” he said, adding the US and Russia were leading discussions.

U.S. delegates have been leading peace talks with officials from Ukraine and Russia since late 2025, while European officials are also scrambling to have a say in how to end the four-year war between the two countries.

“Why don’t we have a seat at the table? This is our continent. This is our future,” Ischinger said Friday. “The answer, of course, is not that Donald Trump made a mistake. The answer … is that we failed to speak with one voice.”

Ischinger added that he rejected the “blame game against the United States” but for regions where Europe has “clearly failed” to adopt a strategic position.

Delegates from around the world gather for the Munich Security Conference on Friday. The event will continue until Sunday.

Ischinger told CNBC that the “wrecking ball” has been “used by many people” in addition to Trump, including far-right parties across Europe and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But he called Trump “the most prominent example” of someone who “questions existing regulations and seeks to change them.” “This is a worrying development for countries like Germany that are so dependent on existing international rules,” he added.

CNBC has reached out to both the White House and the Kremlin for a response to MSC’s comments.

Transatlantic trust has also been damaged by Trump’s pressure for the United States to annex Greenland, Ischinger said.

After weeks of rhetoric about bringing the Arctic island (the Danish territory) under Washington’s control, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on European allies who stood in his way, before announcing that a “deal” had been reached on Greenland.

Since Trump’s return to the White House, European leaders have made commitments to significantly increase security spending. Last summer, NATO’s European members agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of their individual national GDP; This was a move Trump had been working on for some time.

As spending plans support European defense premiums, some have more than doubled in value while backlogs of orders have reached record levels.

Ischinger told CNBC Europe needs to “create a more consolidated, more competitive, more unified defense industry.”