Summary
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called for an “immediate” summit between the US, EU, and Western allies to discuss Ukraine following a heated White House meeting between Trump and President Zelenskyy.
The February 28 meeting ended without agreement on a minerals deal after escalating into a confrontation over US aid and peace deal conditions.
Meloni warned that Western division “makes us all weaker” as European leaders reaffirmed support for Ukraine.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas commented that “the free world needs a new leader,” while European allies worry about being excluded from US-Russia negotiations to end the war.
Europe really needs to beef up its defense industries and whatnot. America’s unreliability is becoming an existential threat and it’s clear that Trump and Co will be extremely opportunistic and quick to align with Russia.
Europe is already spending billions of billions in its defense. Europe countries combined already spend more money in war than russia. Every country in the world (russia, china, usa, europe and everyone else) need to cut the military budget and use public money for something more useful.
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/emma-goldman-preparedness-the-road-to-universal-slaughter
A stand down on war period would be wonderful. Unfortunately, as long as aggressors are on the board, you have to maintain a defensive posture. Europe’s deficiencies have been made clear but their on-going struggles to supply Ukraine. Russia may spend less, but like China, their lower per capita income in some ways helps them get more out of their money (thankfully, corruption and other issues also nerf Russia).
To maintain a defensive posture you don’t need to spend a cent, raise your elbows and clench your fists. I’m using your wordplay to highlight that you don’t need to spend billions in weapons designed to attack and kill other men to be able to defend yourself.
I love reading about people not knowing the EU military industry writing about how it’s somehow weak. Newsflash: it’s not. We don’t talk or write about it 'cause it’s sensitive data. We protect sensitive data. Our armies may not be strong, but our military industry is.
(Looks accusingly at the SA80 / L85 platform… And the Challenger 2)
Your industries can’t even supply artillery and basic equipment to Ukraine, at least nowhere at the level needed to win the war. This is well-known. European leaders have been harping on the need to upgrade capacities.
So, newsflash: sorry, your military industry isn’t up to par yet. The potential is there. Many of the technologies are there. The actual support and capacity to make the most out of that potential is lacking.
This isn’t in any way a controversial opinion. The reality on the ground with constant shortages and European leaders themselves acknowledging the military industry needs more support is well known.
So strong it buys all relevant jets from the us.
So strong.
Europe’s euro fighter jet is and was a very respectable fighter. With the shift towards stealth with the latest generation, it may be falling behind in key areas but still a good air craft. Developing a jet is a huge, huge undertaking and arguably Europe’s resources could be spent better elsewhere rather than trying to develop an F35/F22 competitor.
Europe does have industrial and military capacity issues. This is well known and European leaders are among the quickest to point it out. No idea why the guy above wants to bury his head in the sand on that.
The biggest issues are arguably fragmentation and tepid political/societal support. Europe has various strengths but work is needed to make the most out of their potential.