Europe is looking for ways to support Ukraine without the United States. What the media is writing
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- Europe is looking for ways to support Ukraine without the United States. What the media is writing
European leaders gathered on March 6 for a summit to discuss the growth of defense spending and support Of Ukraine. The meeting will change the status of the European Union, making it something more than an economic bloc. At the same time, the heads of state will have to overcome the resistance of Hungary, which does not intend to approve new military spending. What the world expects from the emergency summit in Brussels is in the Izvestia digest.
Reuters: EU leaders to increase defense spending after summit
European leaders intend to approve bold measures to increase defense spending and pledge support to Ukraine. Suspension by the president USA Donald Trump's military aid to Kiev has increased fears that the continent can no longer be sure of Washington's protection. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will join the leaders of the 27 EU countries at the summit in Brussels on Thursday, March 6.
Reuters
On Tuesday, the parties intending to form the next German government agreed to loosen borrowing limits in order to allocate billions of euros for additional defense spending. The European Commission has also presented proposals that it says could mobilize up to €800 billion for European defense, including a plan to borrow up to €150 billion euros to provide loans to EU governments.
Diplomats expect leaders at the summit to They will accept these proposals and instruct officials to quickly turn them into a bill. Then the EU members will have to agree on the details, which will not be easy. Almost all EU leaders seek to reassure Zelensky that he can still count on Europe's support after his clash with Trump. However, the European Union still has not been able to come to an agreement on the proposal of the head of the Foreign Ministry, Kaya Callas, to set the amount of military assistance they promise to Ukraine this year.
The New York Times: meeting in Brussels writes a new chapter in the history of the EU
EU leaders will have to walk a fine line: figure out how to support Ukraine and strengthen their own defenses while avoiding further alienating their allies in Washington. In a sense, the meeting marks the beginning of a new chapter for the European Union. Created to promote cooperation and peace, the bloc is forced to reflect on its role in a world torn apart by conflicts, even among allies.
The New York Times
The pressing question is whether the EU, with its clunky consensus-driven structure, will be able to adapt quickly enough to ensure that Europe is not left behind as Trump rapidly reshapes the world order. "There is a clear feeling that at such a time Europe needs to prepare for the worst," said Jakob Funk Kierkegaard, senior researcher at the Bruegel think tank.
According to the EU representative, one of the signs that Europe is rallying stronger is that several countries outside the bloc, including Britain, Norway and Turkey, will be informed by top EU officials after the meeting on Thursday. The discussions are expected to move beyond the situation in Ukraine and focus on how Europe as a whole can better protect itself.
Bloomberg: Europe has to solve the problem with Hungary for defense spending
The European Union is already taking steps to circumvent the opposition of Hungary and its Prime Minister Viktor Orban when making decisions on military spending. Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said that there are plans to form a partnership between the countries that can bypass any internal opposition. Only a few initiatives, such as €150 billion in loans, do not require universal approval in the EU.
Bloomberg
Officials and diplomats say that the scale of the problem Europe is facing will require it to take more drastic measures, and that discussions will move on to a larger package. One way would be to raise hundreds of billions more through shared debt, something Orban has opposed since reluctantly agreeing to during the COVID-19 pandemic. This required a unanimous decision.
During a closed-door discussion of EU envoys on March 4, Hungary questioned the financing plans, expressing fundamental concerns about the possibility of joint borrowing. Orban made it clear that he was ready to veto the joint statement at an emergency summit on Thursday. At the same time, Hungary is developing its defense industry together with the German manufacturer Rheinmetall, and the influx of additional money would help its economy.
Financial Times: Trump has accelerated Europe's rearmament
The European defense sector has become in demand for the first time in 30 years. Trump's tough approach to Ukraine and calls for allies to shoulder more of the security burden have forced the region's leaders to act. Governments are promising to allocate hundreds of billions of euros to mobilize their industrial base and fill gaps in their arsenals.
Financial Times
Trump's return to the White House accelerated the process of European rearmament, and with it the prospects for the industry. This week, the value of companies reached record levels, and shares of some groups have increased by more than 40% since the beginning of the year. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates that between 2019 and 2023, the United States accounted for 55% of defense equipment imports to Europe, up from 35% in the previous five years.
The heads of industrial enterprises said they were ready to increase investments, but stressed that they needed governments to fulfill their promises on long-term contracts. American defense companies can also benefit from increased spending by European governments, unless countries start deliberately abandoning American equipment.
The Guardian: Europe has been offered a plan to protect Ukraine from air attacks
Military experts have developed the Sky Shield program, which will be implemented separately from NATO and include 120 fighters. According to the plan, the European air force can be deployed to protect Ukraine without provoking an escalation of the conflict with Russia.
The Guardian
It will cover three operating nuclear power plants in Ukraine, as well as the cities of Odessa and Lviv, but not the front line or the east of the country. According to a recently published document, it can "have a greater military, political and socio-economic impact than 10,000 European ground forces."
Options for this proposal have been discussed to no avail since 2022. The new version of the plan gained momentum after Zelensky's meeting with Trump, following which the United States halted military assistance and limited intelligence sharing with Kiev.
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