View from Brussels: “The chaos within the EU is making us irrelevant — on our own continent, no less”

Macron’s emergency European defence summit. Many EU leaders not invited.
Photo: Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron has convened an emergency summit in Paris to forge a European response to the US policy shift over the war in Ukraine, although numerous European Union leaders were not be involved.

On the afternoon of February 17, only the heads of France, Germany, the UK, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, the European Union and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte discussed European security.

After US President Donald Trump announced “he wanted to end the war in Ukraine”, with little acknowledgement of the European point of view, the continent’s leaders declared a desire to show unity.

Following Macron’s announcement, though, several have criticized the fact that only a limited number of countries would be present at his summit in Paris.

“…They came smiling, but the task was immense. After dozens of summits at which a hesitant and discordant EU had failed to agree on anything like a cohesive plan for the end of the war in Ukraine, this one had, suddenly and vitally, to be different,” writes ‘The Guardian’.

The leaders of France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain and – speaking for the Nordic and Baltic states – Denmark, plus Britain’s prime minister and the heads of Nato and the European Commission and Council, arrived in Paris reeling from a historic week.

Last Monday, the US vice-president, JD Vance, had told Europe its “excessive regulation” of potentially harmful technologies was all wrong. Two days later, Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin to start talks between the US and Russia on ending the war.

The same day, the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, told his European opposite numbers at a meeting in Brussels that the US was no longer “primarily focused” on Europe’s security and the continent would have to take the lead in defending Ukraine.

On Friday came Vance’s coup de grâce: a violent ideological assault accusing European democracies of quashing free speech, bowing to multiculturalism and running scared of voters. Forget Russia: the real threat to Europe, he said, was “from within”.

The US vice-president then declined to talk to the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, instead meeting Alice Weidel, the leader of the far-right AfD, a party that Germany’s security agency keeps under surveillance as a potential threat to democracy.

In five days, leaders were made forcefully aware of three realities: first, the US and Europe appeared no longer to share the values that, since 1945, had underpinned the transatlantic alliance. Second, Europe could no longer rely on the US to defend it.

Third – on the immediate question to which Europe was most eagerly awaiting an answer – the US plan, insofar as it actually exists, did not seem to include a place at the table for Europe (including, for that matter, Ukraine).

Monday’s Paris summit was convened by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, because, in the words of an Elysée adviser, “there is now a necessity for Europeans to do more, better and in a coherent way, for our collective security”.

Those attending were deemed to be the most determined, but also the best equipped, a coalition not just of the willing but the capable – including Britain, no longer an EU member but a major contributor to Ukraine and a potent European military force.

Arriving in Paris, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said Europe’s security was “at a turning point. Yes, it’s about Ukraine – but also about us. We need an urgency mindset. We need a surge in defence. And we need both now.”

European leaders meeting in Paris on Monday for emergency talks called for higher defense spending to ramp up the continent's defense capabilities but remained divided on the possible deployment of peacekeepers to Ukraine to back up any peace deal.

Below Reuters presents some quotes from European leaders after leaving the meeting at the Elysee Palace.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz:

On the idea of deploying European peacekeepers, Scholz said it was "completely premature and completely the wrong time to have this discussion now... I want to say that quite frankly, people are talking over Ukraine's head, about the outcome of peace talks that have not taken place and to which Ukraine has not said yes."

On defense spending, Scholz said: "If European states want to spend more (than 2%) on defense, Germany is supportive that this expenditure is not taken into account in European budget deficit calculations."

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer:

"Today's informal meeting of European leaders was a vital first step in responding to that challenge on defense. It's clear the US is not going to leave NATO, but we Europeans will have to do more."

"The issue of burden sharing is not new, but it is now pressing, and Europeans will have to step up, both in terms of spending and the capabilities that we provide on Ukraine."

"We're at the very early stage of the process. Europe must play its role, and I'm prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others, if there is a lasting peace agreement, but there must be a U.S. backstop, because a U.S. security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again."

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk:

"Transatlantic relations and our friendship with the United States are at a new stage and we all see that. No one should probably be surprised that today this meeting also confirmed that our European partners realise that the time has come for a much greater ability for Europe to defend itself."

Tusk also said there was "a very important confirmation... that defense spending will no longer be treated as excessive spending, so we will not be at risk of the excessive deficit procedure and all its unpleasant consequences."

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen:

"All Europeans have to step up when it comes to Ukraine, and at the same time step up defense spending at home, because Russia is threatening all of Europe now, unfortunately."

"I don't think they are going to stop in Ukraine and therefore I'm very concerned about making a fast ceasefire because it could give Putin and Russia a possibility to go back and mobilize again, attack Ukraine or another country in Europe."

"When it comes to European defense spending, I expect that when we meet in the European Council next time, we will have an agreement about the fiscal rules and the way forward in ensuring that all member states can actually lift our expenditures on the defense."

On possibly sending Danish troops: "We are open to discussing many different things, but I would also like to emphasize that there are really really many things that need to be clarified before we reach this situation, because we are talking about the safety of our own men and women."

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez:

"The peace talks must actively involve the EU and Ukraine, reinforce the multilateral order and international law, and also reinforce Europe."

"We welcome such talks that could derive in a just and lasting peace, but we must remind ourselves that it cannot be a false closure. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past."

European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen:

"Today in Paris we reaffirmed that Ukraine deserves peace through strength. Peace respectful of its independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, with strong security guarantees. Europe carries its full share of the military assistance to Ukraine. At the same time we need a surge in defense in Europe."

But Monday’s summit is likely to be the first of many on the road to a coherent European security policy for Ukraine and for Europe more broadly: Europe’s security environment may have changed, fundamentally, but Europe has not.

Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, lost no time in denouncing Monday’s summit.

The meeting was a gathering of “pro-war, anti-Trump, frustrated European leaders” aimed at “preventing a peace agreement in Ukraine”, he said, adding that unlike them, Budapest “supports Donald Trump’s ambitions… and wants peace in Ukraine”.

Robert Fico, Slovakia’s prime minister, also had a go. EU officials had no mandate for Europe’s role in any Ukraine ceasefire, he said, adding that the discussions did not concern the EU and their participation hurt confidence in the bloc.

Countries not invited to the Paris talks were also grumbling. “Even within the EU, not all states are treated equally,” said Slovenia’s pro-European president, Nataša Pirc Musar. “This is not the Europe we aspire to [or] the Europe that will be respected.”

Other leaders will dread the impact of a big increase in defence spending on already fraught domestic politics. According to NATO, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Croatia, Luxembourg and Slovenia all spend less than the target 2% of GDP on defence.

There are mighty battles in prospect over more shared borrowing – which Germany, among others, strongly opposes – to fund Europe’s collective security needs, and over the use of frozen Russian assets.

More immediately, there are differences over Ukraine’s postwar security guarantees. Macron had already raised the possibility of an eventual European peacekeeping force in Ukraine last year, and Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, said on Sunday the UK was prepared to put troops on the ground. Sweden followed suit on Monday.

The Netherlands said it was “not negative” about the idea, but Germany said it was “premature” and Poland – which at 4% spends more of its GDP per head on defence than any other NATO member – said it was “not planning to send any Polish troops”.

EU diplomats acknowledge the Trump administration’s brutally transactional, unashamedly ideological stance could splinter Europe’s already fragile unity. Whether or not it does, they say, could depend on the process of which Monday’s Paris meeting is but the first step.

Assita Kanko, a Belgian MEP for the European Conservatives and Reformists, said on the morning of February 17 on social media the French President was “discriminating against EU member states”.

“Macron is guilty of the very thing he accuses Donald Trump of — ignoring parts of Europe during these crucial talks,” she said.

She went on to question his authority following his recent electoral defeat: “What does the French President, who has long lost control in his own country, still have to say on the international stage — and on whose behalf?

“The meeting in Paris is pointless and only reinforces to the Americans that no one knows who should represent the EU in peace negotiations,” Kanko added. “The chaos within the EU is making us irrelevant — on our own continent, no less.”

Romanian centrist politician and Mayor General Nicușor Dan wrote: “The fact that Romania is not on the shortlist of guests, again is a very bad signal for us and is the result of an ineffective foreign policy.”

Spyros Litsas, an international relations professor at the University of Macedonia, said: “Macron’s decision not to invite all EU members to the Paris Summit reveals the problematic functioning of the Union at the highest level.”

read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs