Ms von der Leyen is a former German defence minister who has pushed strongly for an EU army.
The article said: “The war in Ukraine exposed bluntly once more the appalling state of European defence capabilities—as seen in former Yugoslav republics in the late 1990s—and how Europe still depends on the United States to fight a war on its own continent.
“To stay safe against Russian and other aggression in the future, Europe will need a convincing conventional and nuclear deterrent of its own, and Germany will be key. The invasion of February 24, 2022 opened many eyes, but the biggest awakening took place in Germany.”
The four said that the war in Ukraine made it clear Germany needs to play a more significant role in NATO which means it needs a nuclear deterrent.
But they conceded that since the Second World War, this has been a “taboo” subject in Germany.
But they concluded: “This, then, is the moment to start a debate in Berlin, Paris, and London about a trilateral French, British, and German nuclear European Defense Initiative, and the responsibility of those three powers to protect Europe if Article 5 is invoked in a worst-case-scenario.”
Brexiteers believe the article was a deliberate attempt to float an idea which has long been under consideration in Brussels, Berlin and Paris.
European Research Group chairman Mark Francois, a former UK Armed Forces Minister, described the plan as “breathtakingly arrogant.”
He said: “The EU already has a flag, an anthem, a currency, a Parliament, a civil service, a border force – and now they want the bomb as well!
“Even more, some of them would quite like our bomb, without of course paying a penny towards it. The arrogance of these people is just breathtaking.”
ERG deputy chairman and former Brexit Minister David Jones also warned against the plans.
He told Express.co.uk: “Britain has its own independent nuclear deterrent and should not surrender it.
“If our experience of leaving the EU has taught us anything, it should be that in an increasingly dangerous world, we should not be relying on the support of countries that have been so obstructive to the realisation of the will of the British people.”
Last month defence ministers refused to rule out further integration with EU armed forces when questioned about them in the Commons.
