European leaders call for stronger defence after Trump’s US presidential election win

The European Political Community met on Thursday in Hungary’s capital Budapest 

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, centre, and Latvia’s Prime Minister Evika Silina, right, arrive for the European Political Community (EPC) Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary (Petr Josek/AP)

About 50 European leaders on Thursday called for a stronger defence posture across the continent that no longer necessitates a fundamental dependence on Washington, as they gave a guarded welcome to incoming US president Donald Trump.

The European Political Community summit on Thursday in Hungary’s capital Budapest reassessed transatlantic relations in the hope that Donald Trump’s second US presidency will avoid the strife of his first.