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Top officials from three influential defence think-tanks told MEPs in Brussels that the new US president was serious with his comments about the continents underwhelming military spending and that a seismic shift has taken place in terms of American foreign policy.

They predicted that the Kremlin could look to test flimsy European defences in the Balkans region by encouraging insurgencies amongst the ethnic Russian populations there, as they have done previously in Ukraine and the Crimea.

EU leaders have been alarmed by the decision of US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, to skip a crucial NATO summit next month to travel to Russia instead, something one official described as an awful message from the White House.

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But one US expert said that despite initial warm rhetoric he did not think that Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin would get on when they finally meet in person, saying they will have little to agree upon other than a wish to eradicate the threat of Islamist terrorism.

The three experts gave evidence to a session of the EU Parliaments subcommittee on defence and security, sitting in Brussels this morning, which is exploring the consequences of the Republicans shock election victory for Europe.

They painted a gloomy message about the continents long-term defence prospects under the billionaires presidency, saying that whilst in the short-term things would remain the same looking forward Americas commitment to the continent and the euro project were less clear.

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US expert Ian Lesser, the vice-president for foreign policy at German Marshall Fund, told the hearing there were very substantial questions about where American policy is going in relation to European security.

He said: Id say that historic American commitment to European security and defence is less automatic than it wouldve been in the past, less automatic and more friction-prone.

"There is an uncertainty about how the US feels about the European project. Although there have been voices over the decades questioning whether a stronger Europe was somehow competitive with NATO, at base there was always this idea that a more integrated more cohesive Europe was in American interests.

A lot of Europeans worry about American isolationism, I dont think this should be the concern. The risk looked at from a Brussels perspective is not that, its of a very vigorous American unilateralism in areas where Europe will be concerned.

His final comment, concerning President Trumps preference to deal with individual countries and leaders directly rather than going through international organisations like the EU, could apply equally to close relations with a newly independent UK as well as the issue of Russia and China.

Mr Lesser added that the Republicans demands that Europe up its defence spending were nothing new but said the his brash and no-nonsense business-style approach meant they had taken on a whole new dynamic.

American commitment to European security and defence is less automatic than it wouldve been in the past

Ian Lesser, German Marshall Fund

He said: What is new is the sense that this is somehow part of an active bargain, that its not just a question of are you doing your share.

"There is now in some of the rhetoric, this is literally a bargain that Europe should be paying for American defence and if you dont pay you wont get the defence.

Addressing the hearing next Steven Blockmans, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies, said Mr Putin would likely try to exploit this new frostiness between Brussels and Washington to test the continents outer defences.

He said: Theres now news that Tillerson might skip his very first NATO ministerial in April which sends an awful message to Europe because it also entails that he would first go to Russia rather than to Europe.

There may be some further testing on the side of the Russians, perhaps not in the Baltics after the pre-positioning of NATO troops with US backing, but what about the Balkans where theres very little pre-positioning?

I dont think in the Balkans the European Union is ready especially in Macedonia but even in Bosnia and Herzegovina where it has a military mission, to counter any support the Slavs in those countries might receive.

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Members of the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade fire blanks from a machine gun during a simulated attack

Finally Jan Joel Andersson, a senior analyst at the Paris-based European Union Institute for Security Studies (ISS), said that the eurosceptic tone which dominated last years US presidential debate had damaged the reputation of the bloc around the world.

He added that the contrast between Mr Trumps open EU bashing and the noises from Vice-President Mike Pence, who visited Brussels last month, had caused puzzlement and concern over Americas intentions.

Mr Trump has made a series of scathing comments about both the EU project and European countries contributions to NATO, with Germany and Angela Merkel frequently being singled out as the objects of his ire.

But he has confirmed he will attend a summit of the military alliance in Brussels - a city he once famously described as a hell-hole - in May and has recently softened his rhetoric to insist that the US is still committed to European security and defence.

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European era of freeloading on American-funded NATO is over under Trump, say experts - Express.co.uk