After a stock -up test with US President Donald Trump at the White House last week, the planned optics of the warm welcome from Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels was clear.
By entering the summit of the European Union flanked by the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the president of the European Council Antonio Costa, on the arrival of the president of Ukraine was a vision of unity.
Zelenskyy, who was reprimanded in Washington for his alleged ingratitude, had trouble expressing his thanks to European leaders this time.
“We are not alone. They are not only words-we feel it,” he said.
Von der Leyen spoke of a “moment of the watershed” for Europe and Ukraine.
“Europe is faced with a clear and present danger, and therefore Europe must be able to protect itself, to defend itself, we must put Ukraine in a position to protect itself and to put pressure to last and just peace,” she told journalists.
But despite all the firm smiles and handles, while EU leaders were trafficked on Thursday evening to discuss the way of stimulating their defense expenses massively and how to help Ukraine after the United States has suspended military and financial aid, alarming developments in the outside world continued to accumulate.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has snubbed a ceasefire proposal supported by Ukraine, France and Great Britain in recent days, and the Kremlin accused French President Emmanuel Macron of heat. Macron had attempted to arouse a debate on the question of whether French nuclear weapons could dissuade other EU countries as a United States, which has around 100 warheads in the block, disengages.
Meanwhile, Trump again wondered if the United States would defend NATO members if it was attacked, which is the central promise of the Western military alliance.
“If you are not going to pay, we are not going to defend,” said Trump, chasing the members of the Alliance who do not reach the objective of spending 2% of the gross domestic product in defense.
Despite the apparent change in the United States on Ukraine, European leaders are still calling for transatlantic cooperation and working to change things. Zelenskyy pointed out on Thursday that he could have new discussions with the United States next week, and there is still hope that the United States could soften its position towards Europe.
Nevertheless, EU countries also seriously consider how they would face without the United States having subscribed to its security for the first time in decades.
Go-Ahead for a Massive Defense Defense Funding Plan
Thursday, the 27 leaders gave the European Commission, the executive power of the EU, the green light to move forward with a drum plan of almost 800 billion euros (870 billion dollars) of additional defense investment in the EU in the coming years.
Earlier this week, Von Der Leyen proposed to suspend part of the EU strict budgetary rules to give national governments more space to spend in defense, by creating a new loan instrument of 150 billion euros to support joint purchases among the EU member states, reallocating the EU budget funds and mobilizing more private capital.
Under the plan, most of the money would come from member states, which could take more debts than usual, especially for defense expenses, without being penalized.
The European Commission will continue to work on the real legal proposal before another summit later this month.
Message to Kyiv, but no new money – again
Zelenskyy, who spoke with EU leaders for an hour and a half at the start of the talks, could leave by feeling more assured. The EU reiterated its support for Ukraine once again in a press release signed by all members except one: Hungary.
He spoke, among other things, of the “preparation of the Member States to intensify urgent efforts to meet Ukraine military and defense needs, in particular the delivery of air defense, ammunition and missile systems, the provision of training and equipment necessary for Ukrainian brigades and other needs that Ukraine can have.”
The conclusions of the EU summits are generally approved unanimously, but even before the rally, the diplomats clearly indicated that they would advance quickly without the Hungarian president Viktor Orban if necessary.
Hungary, which has the closest relationship with Russia in any EU state, has repeatedly made decisions about sanctions against Russia and assistance packages for Ukraine when the other 26 EU states were ready to proceed. He supported Trump’s recent openings in Russia and his efforts to conclude an agreement to end the war without involving Ukraine or the EU.
Despite this, two senior EU diplomats told DW in the perspective of the talks that over the coming weeks, the EU could offer a new piece of money in addition to the 30 billion euros that it has already engaged in Ukraine for this year. Costa, the president of the European Council, also said at the end of the summit that more money could be on the way.
“Several Member States have already announced their promises up to 15 billion euros,” he told journalists.
Will it be enough?
The EU has debated how to increase its defense expenses for years. Most of the 27 EU countries are also members of NATO, which are faced with a 2% defense expenditure target of their gross domestic product. However, many are not of this target.
In light of change in the White House, several Member States have indicated that they would considerably increase defense expenses.
The most dramatic reversal came from Germany, with the next probable chancellor of the country, Friedrich Merz, indicating the desire to rewrite the German Constitution to loosen the rules of the debt to spend more for the army.
“There are no more frugals with regard to defense,” said an EU diplomat greater than DW on condition of anonymity on the sidelines of EU talks, using Brussels jargon to indicate the most cautious countries to take debt to finance public spending.
In addition, EU officials have already clearly indicated that others will follow in the coming weeks. Later this month, the European Commission will present a white paper on the defense which could describe more ideas.
Was it the moment of the watershed that von der Leyen boasted? At the very least, consensus among the EU leaders on the need to enormously intensify defense investments has obviously been established, even with Hungary.
“We can disagree on the methods of peace, we agree that we must strengthen the defense capacities of European nations, and these efforts should empower Member States rather than on the bureaucrats of Brussels,” said Orban on X before the summit.
But other questions remain more conflicting. The question of grasping Russian assets frozen in the West to help Ukraine, for example, or Macron’s proposal to consider using French nuclear weapons as a deterrent on the scale of Europe, for example
Messages from the United States can be deeply mixed, but the EU was obvious Thursday – at least without Hungary.
“We have been with Ukraine since the first day. We have already provided more than 135 billion euros in support for Ukraine since 2022. Our support is unshakable,” said Costa. “If the war continues. In future peace negotiations. In reconstruction, in accession to the European Union.”
Published by: Davis van opdorp
