Facing the prospect that the United States might cut them adrift under President Donald Trump, European Union leaders launched a day of emergency talks Thursday in a bid to beef up their own security and ensure that Ukraine will still be properly protected.
Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor of Germany, and summit chairman Antonio Costa discussed over breakfast in Brussels ways to fortify Europe's defenses on a short deadline. Merz pushed plans this week to loosen the nation’s rules on running up debt to allow for higher defense spending.
Meanwhile, the 27-nation bloc was waking up to news that French President Emmanuel Macron would confer with EU leaders about the possibility of using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats.
It all underscored the sea change that has taken place in the two months since Trump took office and immediately started upending the cornerstones of cooperation between the United States and Europe that had been the bedrock of Western security since World War II.
“Spend, spend, spend on defense and deterrence. That’s. the most important message,” said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
The call is a sharp departure from decades of decline in military spending in Europe, where defense often came last in many budgetary considerations.
The bloc will “take decisive steps forward," Macron told the French nation Wednesday evening. “Member states will be able to increase their military spending” and “massive joint funding will be provided to buy and produce some of the most innovative munitions, tanks, weapons and equipment in Europe,” he said.
RELATED STORY | US 'pauses' intelligence sharing with Ukraine as they work to rebuild relations
Adding to the ebullient message, he said that “Europe’s future does not have to be decided in Washington or Moscow.”
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was attending the summit, received warm bonhomie from most leaders — a stark contrast with the verbal lashing the Ukraine president got from Trump less than a week ago.
“I want to thank all our European leaders," Zelenskyy said. “Strong support from the very beginning of the war. During all this period, and last week, you stayed with us.”
Helping EU members increase spending
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a plan to loosen budget rules so countries that are willing can spend much more on defense. Her proposal is underpinned by 150 billion euros ($162 billion) worth of loans to buy priority military equipment.
Most of the increased defense spending would have to come from national budgets at a time when many countries are already overburdened with debt.
RELATED STORY | 'Something has to change': Johnson says Zelenskyy should do 'what is necessary'
Part of von der Leyen’s plan includes measures to ensure struggling member states won’t be punished for going too deep in the red if the spending is earmarked for defense.
“Europe faces a clear and present danger, and therefore Europe has to be able to protect itself, to defend itself,” she said.
France is struggling to reduce an excessive annual budget deficit of 5% of GDP, after running up its total debt burden to 112% of GDP with spending on relief for businesses and consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Five other countries using the euro currency have debt levels over 100% of GDP: Belgium, Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal.
Europe’s largest economy, Germany, has more room to borrow, with a debt level of 62% of GDP.
Pressing security needs
Part of any security plan is also to protect the increasingly beleaguered position of Ukraine.
A Russian missile killed four people staying at a hotel in Zelenskyy’s hometown overnight. He said that a humanitarian organization’s volunteers had moved into the hotel in Kryvyi Rih, in central Ukraine, just before the strike. The volunteers included Ukrainian, American and British nationals, but it wasn't clear whether those people were among the 31 injured.
Early this week, Trump ordered a pause to U.S. military supplies to Ukraine as he sought to press Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia, bringing fresh urgency to Thursday's summit.
Thursday's meeting is unlikely to address Ukraine’s most pressing needs. It is not aimed at urgently drumming up more arms and ammunition to fill any supply vacuum created by the U.S. freeze. Nor will all nations agree to unblock the estimated 183 billion euros ($196 billion) in frozen Russian assets held in a Belgian clearing house, a pot of ready cash that could be seized.
Still, the Europeans underlined the importance of the moment.
“This is a watershed moment for Europe and Ukraine as part of our European family. It’s also a watershed moment for Ukraine," von der Leyen said, as she stood alongside Zekenskyy before striding together into the summit.
But perhaps the biggest challenge for the EU will be taking a united stance at a moment when it’s fractured, since much of the bloc's actions requires unanimous support. Hungary is threatening to veto part of the summit statement on Ukraine, as is Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
“We have to take decisions no matter the one or two which are opposing every time,” said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda. “Otherwise history will penalize us and we will pay a very high cost.”
Thursday's summit is unlikely to produce immediate decisions on spending for Ukraine or its own defenses. Another EU summit where the real contours of decisions would be much clearer is set for March 20-21.
