Invasion of Ukraine accelerates build-up of its own European defense

The closest thing to actual military cooperation was the creation of the Eurocorps in 1992, a military unit based in Strasbourg and initially composed of French and German units and which Spain, Belgium and Poland successively joined, and which Is for operational purposes. Has already participated in several international operations. In 2017, the Permanent Enhanced Defense Cooperation (PESCO) mechanism was created, which allowed countries that decided to do so to cooperate more closely on military projects, based on the institutional mechanisms of the Union. That path remained unchallenged until the war in Ukraine suddenly awakened the need for a somewhat autonomous European defence.

after the bombing

The bombing of Ukraine has been one of the main reasons why Ursula von der Leyen, now President of the European Commission and candidate to repeat the post, has announced that in the next legislature she plans to create the post of Defense Commissioner, something that This would probably have been impossible if the British were still members of the EU. Moreover, the instability of North American politics and the possibility that Donald Trump could return to the White House and cast doubt on the strength of the transatlantic link have changed the minds of many leaders.

On March 19, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel of Belgium, bluntly declared in a statement to Europeans that “We must prepare for defense and move towards a ‘war economy’.” Now the time has come that we take responsibility for our own safety. “We can no longer trust others or be at the mercy of the election cycle in the US or other countries.”

Taking into account that practically all EU members are at the same time members of the Atlantic alliance (Malta, Ireland, Cyprus and Austria are not), the question of a purely European military approach has always been taboo. And it explains the reasons why the EU General Staff, which has existed since 2001, remains a small structure that barely serves to direct joint operations abroad or to promote industrial cooperation in the region. The European Defense Agency (EDA) may hardly have been designed for this. advanced. In fact, about 80% of military material spending in all countries goes to non-European manufacturers, especially North Americans.

Putin ‘effect’

After Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, all this has changed radically. Most countries, especially those considered the most vulnerable, such as Poland or the Baltics, have multiplied their military spending and the European Commission itself has established the Sacred Fund for Peace, a financial instrument aimed at formally avoiding conflicts. Very weak countries have agreed to convert. In a source of financing for the purchase of weapons for Ukrainians. With the latest expansion last month, the actual amount invested in military aid to Ukraine reached 11 billion euros, a stratospheric figure in community use. And the European General Staff has begun tasks to organize the training of Ukrainian troops.

On the political side, successive European Councils have reiterated with all kinds of formulations their unlimited support for Kiev and their determination to accelerate military cooperation. Von der Leyen also said the 27 should make joint purchases of military material “along the model that we managed to successfully scale up for vaccines and natural gas.”

That being so, it seems clear that there is consensus on the need to normalize defense policy to some extent, but the same does not apply when deciding which model to use. It was very convenient to send to Kiev all material of Soviet origin at the beginning of the war and was therefore compatible with the Ukrainian arsenals that the Eastern countries had, in order to speed up their transition towards NATO standards. But as soon as that equipment was finished, it took more than half a year for the Europeans to agree to send ammunition for the Western guns, which they made themselves and which they also sent to Kiev. The promise of providing one million howitzers will be fulfilled much later than expected and the reason for this is that a small country like the Czech Republic has searched all the warehouses of the world in search of it. When it came to declaring that European money should be spent in European factories, everyone agreed. But when it was necessary to define which of them were to be ordered further, the consensus was less clear.

France, the lighthouse country

In recent months, several countries, led by France, have proposed various models to meet this need for military cooperation. France is, in some ways, the beacon country, as it is the only European country that has its own nuclear weapons, with which it can guarantee a deterrent force. However, Germany by no means wants to become irrelevant and its officers are leaving behind loads of historical complexes, despite the fact that this is not the best economic time to increase military spending.