Gabor Horvath: Europe finally woke up from its state of sleeping beauty
03.03.2025
Gabor Horvath
Given the situation that has arisen due to Donald Trump’s attitude, the Newssky correspondent asked the European political analysts if probably the time has finally come for Europe to create its own military and security identity, and how they see it. Here is the reaction from Gabor Horvath, deputy editor-in-chief of the Hungarian newspaper Népszava.
In your opinion, maybe it’s time for Europe to create some kind of separate defense project?
It took over 70 years and a full-scale war, but Europe finally woke up from its state of sleeping beauty. The Old Continent realized the deadly danger of defenselessness in the woods full of carnivores. One can only hope that it did so in time. It was in 1952 (!) that six «core» countries—France, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and West Germany—established an alliance called the European Defense Community.
The project was not welcomed by the United States, and NATO became the organization as its first Secretary General, Lord Ismay put it, «to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.» The NATO of today is inept at each of those roles, so it is but of common sense that Europe needs a new—or, in this case, a very old—solution to its existential problem in the East.
The European Union has a population of 450 million, a combined GDP of 17 trillion euros, and a combined defense budget of 326 billion euros—excluding the United Kingdom’s contribution. Russia has 144 million people, a 2.2 trillion USD GDP, and a 100 billion USD defense budget. By all quantitative measures, Europe has the upper hand; the only open question is if it has the determination and the political will to meet the challenge. This seemingly simple issue is a real dilemma: Europeans regard their welfare state in high esteem, and governments ignore this sentiment at their peril.
And what could be the mechanism to implement this?
This is where a ‘little help’ from Russia may play its role. Faced with the obvious military threat, Europeans might be willing to partially sacrifice certain social achievements, which until now were taken for granted by the people. For example, generous unemployment benefits might be cut back in parallel with the appearance of new employment opportunities in the fast-growing defense industry.
As of now, it seems that the United States will keep its troops in Europe, providing, if not verbal, practical cover in case of a Russian attack. There is not much talk about withdrawing units from the Baltic States, Poland, or Romania bordering Russia. At the same time, the UK and France move fast to ensure Ukraine of their future support. Their combined nuclear arsenal is a fragment of the Russian stockpiles, but still capable of much more than a symbolic umbrella over the potential battlefield. French President Emmanuel Macron already signaled his readiness to consider the deployment of nuclear-capable fighter jets in European countries. British PM Sir Keir Starmer indicated a significant increase in military spending, while his Conservative opposition demands even more, up to 3% of the GDP.
Time is of the essence here. In military matters, it is impossible to overstate the decisive role of quick preventive action: Europe must be ready to present a joint defense plan by late spring and act on it by summer. Even if it will happen as fast as possible, it’s going to take years to achieve the required level of arms and ammunition production and the necessary increase in troop numbers. But Russia will also need years before it can rebuild its depleted armed forces. Until Europe is ready to meet the challenge, it can rely on its new closest ally, the battle-hardened Ukrainian army, to keep the aggressor away.
Deputy Editor-in-Chief (Central Europe and Canada) and Project Manager at V5 Media, Maryna Kovalchuk, contributed.
