By Martin Averick
March 29, 2025
For all three years of the war between Moscow and Kyiv Europe has held to the pro-Ukrainian stance. Neither the lack of major progress of the Ukrainians on the battlefield, nor the internal crisis, experienced by the EU member states due to providing assistance to Kyiv, made the European leaders deviate from the initial political line. Europe even decided to distance from its long-standing ally, the US, that had reconsidered its top foreign policy priorities, and act on a stand-alone basis without the US support or approval despite probable aggravation of their bilateral relations.
Thus, smelling danger from the US focus on rapprochement with Russia, the European Commission unveiled the White Paper, the document on the rearmament of the member states and defense industry development. The document highlights that Europe must be ready for large-scale military actions in its territory because of the threat coming from Russia in case the latter prevails in the war in Ukraine. Despite ever-growing number of the Europeans, unsatisfied with the current policy, that among others instigated a migration crisis of an unprecedented scale, Brussels still insists on allocation of great sums of money from the budget, turning a blind eye on the existing domestic problems. The recently unveiled document on the rearmament is no exception either. It foresees annual supplies of air defense systems, large-caliber weapons and ammunition, as well as providing support for the Ukrainian defense by means of single source contracts.
With regard to all privileges and opportunities provided for Kyiv, Europe seems to be trying hard to persuade its people and partners that Ukraine is a vital ally and assistance to this belligerent country must be top priority. By these actions the European leaders take strides to substitute the expenditure of the EU funds not on the internal problems of the member states but on Ukraine, that is no part of the block. Furthermore, it turns out that Europe makes efforts to prolong the war by all means in the view of the positive prospects after the talks between Russia and the US.
The European Union is unlikely to need a half-ruined country that will require several annual budgets to be restored. Its primary interest is to weaken one of the key players on the global stage as much as possible, and to achieve this goal, as we can see, Europe is set for acting against the interests of its citizens. Furthermore, the European Union is likely to undermine the authority of Donald Trump, who promised to put an end to all wars, to interfere with his rapprochement with Russia and derail the signing of a peace treaty.
The latest events and decisions, taken by the EU, indicate that Europe has set a course for the direct participation in the war on the side of Ukraine. And reconsideration of the defense strategy, as well as the already started rearmament are just part of the preparation stage.