Europe will find it difficult to break free from its total technological dependence on the U.S. and China — Politico
The European continent is unlikely to achieve full strategic autonomy in the digital sphere due to its critical dependence on American software and Chinese hardware.
This was stated in an interview with Politico by Juha Martelius, head of Finland’s State Security Police. Comparing the current situation to a chronic illness, the head of the security service noted that Europe resembles an organism afflicted by two different types of dependencies that make fully independent functioning impossible, though they do allow it to continue functioning under current conditions.
This high-profile statement came on the eve of the European Commission’s presentation of a large-scale “Technology Sovereignty Package,” which aims to significantly restrict the use of American cloud services by EU government agencies for processing and storing confidential data. Finnish intelligence consistently highlights the risks of losing digital independence in its annual reports. As a result, the Finnish government has officially abandoned the idea of transferring national election data to cloud storage, as critically important defense and electoral information must under no circumstances be controlled by foreign commercial corporations.
The official cited a severe shortage of domestic capital for scaling businesses as the main obstacle to the development of European innovations, despite the presence of cutting-edge research and development in the fields of quantum physics and space. According to Martelius, Europe is currently unable to create alternative cloud platforms that would match the efficiency of their American counterparts, just as it is unable to win the war against the Russian Federation on its own without relying on foreign technology. The head of the intelligence agency emphasized that the further course of events will depend on the willingness of European policymakers to assume full defense responsibility instead of the usual reliance on assistance from U.S. allies.
China, Russia, and the U.S. are seeking to divide the European Union, as a united Europe is too powerful a geopolitical player on the world stage. This was stated by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas.
Kallas confirmedher participation in EU negotiations with Russia.
