NATO units forget they’re not the EU
NATO’s airborne surveillance units have suggested that American military hardware should grace the EU’s new euro banknotes Read Full Article at RT.com
As the European Central Bank weighs how its new euro banknotes will look, NATO’s airborne surveillance unit has a novel suggestion: plaster the European notes with images of American military hardware.
In a recent post on its Facebook page, NATO’s 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 €20 note, the E-3 is accompanied by what appear to be two American F-16s.
“What if the new European banknotes had a little more…air superiority?”
the NATO unit asked in a caption.
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
“keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”
Coordinated NATO psy-op trying to tie NATO to the EU.
Thank you for your attention in this matter.
pic.twitter.com/5zb54Hd4l2
— Mats Nilsson (@mazzenilsson)
August 4, 2026
NATO’s 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 ‘Eurasian sovereignist’ Mats Nilsson describing them as a
“coordinated NATO psy-op trying to tie NATO to the EU.”
Read more
Why Western Europe needs a Russian threat
“A Boeing on a EURO banknote?”
one commenter replied to NATO AWACS on Instagram.
“No, thank you. Please redesign with a Saab Globaleye. It’s at least half European.”
Four Eurozone countries – Austria, Cyprus, Ireland, and Malta – are not members of NATO, while 15 of NATO’s 32 members do not use the euro.
Whether they are interpreted as tongue-in-cheek trolling or an expression of Europe’s 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 – including Marie Curie, Leonardo da Vinci, and Ludwig van Beethoven – and native European birds making the shortlist.
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.