Amid Trump Attacks And Weaponized Sanctions, Europeans Look To Rely Less On US Tech

Europe races to reclaim digital sovereignty as US tech dependence becomes a geopolitical vulnerability in 2026.
Matilda
Amid Trump Attacks And Weaponized Sanctions, Europeans Look To Rely Less On US Tech
European Digital Sovereignty: Breaking Free From US Tech What happens when a nation's digital infrastructure becomes a geopolitical weapon? For Europeans watching U.S. sanctions paralyze everyday life for foreign officials, the answer is clear: overreliance on American technology poses an existential risk. With Washington increasingly wielding digital access as leverage, EU leaders are fast-tracking plans to reclaim control over their data, payments, and cloud infrastructure before the next crisis hits. Credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo/Bloomberg / Getty Images The wake-up call came quietly but devastatingly. When the Trump administration added International Criminal Court judge Kimberly Prost to its sanctions list last year, her digital life collapsed overnight. Credit cards failed. Online accounts vanished. International bank transfers froze. Prost—whose only "crime" was participating in a judicial process involving alleged war crimes in Afghanistan—found herself d…