On the eve of Donald Trump‘s inauguration, his presidency for Europe is not a development to come, but a living reality. In this sense, European leaders are being urged to immediately adjust their strategy towards Washington, and the message being chorally sent is that they are seeking cooperation and chaste Euro-American relations, not a harsh confrontation.

In this light, today’s discussion by Kyriakos Mitsotakis on broader developments and the future of Europe along with former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta at the annual dinner hosted by the Hellenic American Chamber is of particular interest.

At the Maximos Mansion, as in other European governments, they are waiting to see what Mr. Trump’s attitude toward the E.U. will be, although yesterday he gave a preview of his intentions by announcing additional tariffs on third countries. Interestingly, Georgia Meloni was personally invited to yesterday’s speech, while Victor Orban, who had also met Mr Trump in Mar-a-Lago, was unable to attend. Notably, Mitsotakis plans to meet Ms Meloni on 19 February in Rome, as the Greek-Italian Intergovernmental Committee is meeting for the first time in years, so the two, who have a close personal relationship, will have the opportunity to assess developments.

Mitsotakis, government sources point out, has long ago highlighted the strategic priorities for the next day for Europe. He has stressed that European countries should both increase their defense spending and that the EU should develop more tools for common European defense, such as taking on joint debt for armaments.

“There is no way we can finance our increased defence spending only from national budgets. We may need a small – compared to the Recovery Fund – European fund, focused on defence, financed by joint European borrowing,” Mitsotakis said on the German podcast “Table Today”, while identifying 100 billion as a sufficient amount to convince everyone that the EU means what it says.

In any case, the administration’s message is that Greek-American relations have strategic depth and “stand on solid foundations” that are not affected by conjunctural developments. The fact that Greece spends more than 3% of GDP on defense spending, the recently updated Defense Cooperation Agreement, Athens’ imminent order of the fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets, the Souda Base, and Alexandroupolis as a key point in the energy planning of the wider region make Greece a critical ally of US, according to the government analysis.