EU leaders gathered Thursday in Brussels for a special defense council, while French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the continent was a “turning point in history”.
In addition to resetting, leaders should discuss how the body can support kyiv more in the face of the announcement of US President Donald Trump on Monday that he would suspend aid to Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky is invited to the top.
The nerves have been more and more efficient through Europe since The confrontation of Trump and Zelensky in the White House last weekAnd the rhetoric around Thursday is no doubt about the importance of EU officials who attribute it.
Three years later since Large -scale invasion of Ukraine RussiaThe Trump administration’s openings to Russian President Vladimir Putin have left many people in Europe fearing that the continent could not count on American support for its security.
Washington’s decision on Wednesday To take a break from intelligence sharing with Ukraine did nothing to appease these concerns.
In a sign of depth of concern, President Macron said that France was open to discussing the extension of the protection offered by its nuclear arsenal to its European partners, during a speech to the nation on Wednesday.
This follows a call from Friedrich Merz, probably the next Chancellor of Germany, to discuss the increase in nuclear sharing.
Europe was faced with a “clear and current danger on a scale that none of us saw in our adult life,” said European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen, while European Council President António Costa said it was a “decisive moment for Ukraine and European security”.
In a letter to European leaders, Von Der Leyen also said that the continent had to “reach the moment” and “unleash our industrial and productive power and direct it towards the objective of security”.
On Monday, Von Der Leyen announced an unprecedented defense package – nicknamed Rearm Europe – and said that Europe was ready to “massively” increase its defense expenses “with the speed and ambition that was necessary”.
Von der Leyen said that the three proposals described in the Rearm Europe plan would support both Ukraine and “would meet the long -term need to take much more responsibility” for European security – probably referring to the fact that many Europeans believe that the continent can no longer rely automatically on the United States to come to its aid.
The proposals include:
- Allow countries to increase national deficit levels to give way to more defense expenses
- 150 billion euros (125 billion pounds sterling) in loans for defense investment in fields that could benefit the defense of the EU as a whole – for example, air defense and anti -missile, anti -line systems and military mobility – helping demand for pool and reduces costs through joint purchases
- Allow countries to redirect funds for cohesion policy programs (policies aimed at leveling the differences between more and less advantageous) for defense expenses
The European Investment Bank would also be authorized to finance military projects.
According to Von der Leyen, the plan could release a total of 800 billion euros ($ 860 billion; 670 billion pounds sterling) in defense expenditure.
Many European leaders have reported their support for rapid and decisive action with regard to the security of the continent.
Donald Tusk, the Polish Prime Minister, said that the commission’s plan represented “a fundamental change”, while the Lithuanian president Gitanas Naseséda said that the summit would give Europe the opportunity to show “if it is simply a debate club or if we can make decisions”.
But the dissent of certain sympathetic European leaders in Moscow is expected.
Earlier this week, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that the “peace by peace” of the EU was “unrealistic”.
And in a letter to the Costa, the Viktor Orban of Hungary demanded that Ukraine be mentioned in any written conclusion after the summit.
Orban – Who has tried several times to block EU’s help in Ukraine and congratulated Trump to “stand courageously for peace” – said that there was a “strategic fracture … between the majority of Europe and the United States”.
“One side insists on prolonging the war in Ukraine, while the other seeks conflict,” he added.
However, Orban has left the door open to a “greater probability of cooperation” with other leaders concerning common security and defense issues.
While the Summit of Thursday’s crisis takes place in Brussels, the British defense secretary, John Healey, will be in Washington for discussions with his counterpart Pete Hegseth on the American decision to suspend the sharing of intelligence with Ukraine.
Their bilateral meeting will focus on a possible peace plan while efforts continue to fill a transatlantic flaw on kyiv’s future security.
Perhaps in a last attempt to try to make the unit before the summit, Emmanuel Macron – who positioned himself in the center of EU efforts to fill the gap between kyiv and Washington – invited Orban to dinner in Paris on Wednesday evening.
The two leaders met immediately after the French president gave a dark speech to the nation in which he declared that France and Europe were to be ready if the United States was no longer by their side.
“We must be united and determined to protect ourselves,” said Macron. He added that the future of Europe could not be linked to Washington or Moscow, and said that even if it “wanted to believe that the United States will remain by our side, we must be ready to make this not the case.”
The French president plans to hold a meeting of the heads of the European army in Paris next week.
Macron said that “decisive measures” would be taken in Brussels, leaving European countries “more ready to defend and protect themselves”.
“The moment is calling for unprecedented decisions,” he concluded.
