{"id":3045,"date":"2026-08-04T19:30:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/?p=3045"},"modified":"2026-08-04T19:30:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:30:04","slug":"nato-units-forget-theyre-not-the-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/?p=3045","title":{"rendered":"NATO units forget they\u2019re not the EU"},"content":{"rendered":"

American military equipment on euro banknotes would be a fitting metaphor for the US-led bloc<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the European Central Bank weighs how its new euro banknotes will look, NATO\u2019s airborne surveillance unit has a novel suggestion: plaster the European notes with images of American military hardware.<\/p>\n

In a recent post on its Facebook page, NATO\u2019s Airborne Early Warning and Control (AWACS) Force shared its vision for the upcoming series of Euro notes, a US-made Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft soaring over the fields and forests of Europe. On the \u20ac20 note, the E-3 is accompanied by what appear to be two American F-16s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if the new European banknotes had a little more\u2026air superiority?\u201d<\/em> the NATO unit asked in a caption.<\/p>\n

The post was tongue-in-cheek, but the image of American air superiority over Europe is a fitting metaphor for an organization designed, in the words of its first secretary-general, to \u201ckeep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Coordinated NATO psy-op trying to tie NATO to the EU. <\/p>\n

Thank you for your attention in this matter. pic.twitter.com\/5zb54Hd4l2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mats Nilsson (@mazzenilsson) August 4, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

NATO\u2019s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Force followed suit, posting a series of notes featuring an American RQ-4D Phoenix surveillance drone. The posts received mixed reactions online, with self-described \u2018Eurasian sovereignist\u2019 Mats Nilsson describing them as a \u201ccoordinated NATO psy-op trying to tie NATO to the EU.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT\"
Why Western Europe needs a Russian threat<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cA Boeing on a EURO banknote?\u201d<\/em> one commenter replied to NATO AWACS on Instagram. \u201cNo, thank you. Please redesign with a Saab Globaleye. It\u2019s at least half European.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Four Eurozone countries \u2013 Austria, Cyprus, Ireland, and Malta \u2013 are not members of NATO, while 15 of NATO\u2019s 32 members do not use the euro.<\/p>\n

Whether they are interpreted as tongue-in-cheek trolling or an expression of Europe\u2019s vassal status to the US, the notes have no chance of ever being printed. The European Central Bank is currently holding a public survey on its forthcoming euro banknotes, with variants showing historical figures \u2013 including Marie Curie, Leonardo da Vinci, and Ludwig van Beethoven \u2013 and native European birds making the shortlist.<\/p>\n

The survey closes in late September, and a winner will be chosen by the end of 2026. The notes will be printed and circulated in 2030 or 2031.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American military equipment on euro banknotes would be a fitting metaphor for the US-led bloc As the European Central Bank weighs how its new euro banknotes will look, NATO\u2019s airborne … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}