Europe faces a clear and real threat, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference after the end of the extraordinary meeting of the European Council dedicated to the changed international environment and the future of Ukraine, BTA reported.
According to her, the EU is determined to act on a large scale and quickly, as circumstances require. The need for support for the Ukrainian armed forces has never been more urgent, she added. Von der Leyen specified that the proposals for European defense investments presented earlier this week provide for European countries to redirect cohesion funds for military purposes only if they want to.
It is also in the interest of US President Donald Trump to achieve peace through force, Von der Leyen said. According to her, this would be possible only with the support of EU countries. We have ensured the financial survival of Ukraine this year, we are providing military capabilities to Kiev, we are maintaining the Ukrainian electricity grid. Europe is very important for a positive outcome - to achieve peace through force, this is in everyone's interest, she added.
European Council President Antonio Costa pointed out that a decisive hour has come for Europe and the security of Europeans. He noted that European military spending will be aligned with NATO and will be directed towards the acquisition of ammunition, air defense assets, drones, military mobility and electronic operations capabilities.
Our support for Ukraine will continue if the war continues, in any future peace negotiations, in the reconstruction and accession of the country to the EU, said Koshta. We are determined to further increase assistance. We are ready to support Kiev when it is ready to enter into negotiations that can lead to a just and lasting peace, he summed up.
French President Emmanuel Macron said after the EU summit in Brussels that he wants to see by the middle of this year whether new cooperation can be established in the eurozone around the possibility of other countries benefiting from French nuclear deterrence, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
"We will start with a phase in which our technical experts will exchange views. This will be both a strategic and technical dialogue. "There will be an exchange of views at the level of heads of state and government to see by mid-year whether new collaborations can be established," Macron said, adding that several leaders had spoken to him on the matter.
Macron also said that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was an imperialist revisionist who had made a historical inaccuracy by comparing him to Napoleon.
"Napoleon made conquests. The only imperialist power that I see today in Europe is called Russia and it is an imperialist revisionist of history and of the identity of peoples," Macron said.
Yesterday, a day after French President Emmanuel Macron called Russia a threat to Europe and suggested that other European countries be placed under the French nuclear umbrella, the Russian head of state said that some people had forgotten what happened to Napoleon. In 1812 The French emperor invaded Russia with his army and captured Moscow, but was then forced to make a desperate attempt to retreat in the winter and suffered huge losses, Reuters and Agence France-Presse recall. "There are still people who want to return to the time of Napoleon, forgetting how it ended," the Russian president said, without mentioning Macron by name.
Macron called Russia an existential threat to Europe and said that the Russian president was undoubtedly hurt by the fact that "we exposed his game." He assured that Moscow wants a ceasefire in Ukraine as part of its negotiations with the United States of Donald Trump not to achieve a lasting peace, but to better resume the war, Agence France-Presse reported.
Macron said he would talk to Putin when it was decided that the right moment had come, Reuters added.
The French president also said he supported the idea of a common loan to finance Europe's defense. He added that he did not want the increase in defense funds to go only to the purchase of non-European production that is available in warehouses. Macron added that whatever happens in Ukraine, Europe must build autonomous defense capabilities.
Macron also said that the French have always been loyal and faithful allies in NATO. In this way, he responded to US President Donald Trump, who had recently questioned France's commitment to defending the United States within NATO. Macron stressed that France has respect and friendship for the United States and its leaders and has the right to expect the same from them.
In Brussels, leaders of several Central and Eastern European countries welcomed Macron's initiative, the Associated Press noted, quoted by BTA.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said: “We need to seriously consider this proposal“. He stressed that “as always, the details are important, but France's readiness in this direction is very significant“.
The Baltic states have also expressed interest in Macron's proposal. The same countries are pushing for increased defense spending by EU countries to avoid possible future aggression from neighboring Russia.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called the idea “very interesting”. “We have high expectations because a nuclear shelter would be a really, really serious deterrent to Russia”, Nauseda said.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Evika Silinė described the French proposal as “an opportunity for discussion”, stressing that more time would be needed for talks with other European allies and at the national level.
According to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), France has the fourth-largest nuclear arsenal in the world - with approximately 290 nuclear warheads. France's nuclear arsenal includes ballistic missiles deployed on nuclear submarines, which account for about 80% of the country's warheads, as well as cruise missiles launched from long-range bombers.
Although France is a member of NATO, its nuclear forces are not part of the alliance's integrated military command structure.
According to the Federation of American Scientists, the United States and Russia each have more than 5,000 nuclear warheads, which together account for about 88% of the world's nuclear arsenal. China is a distant second.
The United Kingdom, which is no longer a member of the EU but is working to restore closer ties with the 27-nation bloc, also has nuclear weapons.
„As for expanding our nuclear deterrent or using it to defend other European countries – "We already do," said Tom Wells, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. "The United Kingdom already commits its nuclear forces to NATO, helping to safeguard Euro-Atlantic security," he added.
During the Cold War, the U.S. nuclear umbrella was intended to ensure that allies, especially NATO members, could rely on American nuclear forces for protection in the event of a threat. This is one reason many countries in Europe and around the world have not developed their own nuclear arsenals, the AP said.
Last month, German election winner and likely future chancellor Friedrich Merz called for a discussion of "nuclear sharing" with France. Germany is among the European countries that have US nuclear weapons deployed on their territory as part of NATO's nuclear policy.
French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal for Europe to be protected by a French nuclear umbrella was received cautiously but welcomed by the leaders of the Nordic countries, which are traditionally reserved on nuclear weapons issues, AFP noted.
“Everything must be on the table at the moment“, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told the national news agency Ritzau upon arriving for the EU summit in Brussels.
“Like most people, we Swedes want as few nuclear weapons as possible, but at the moment we should be happy and grateful that two of our neighbours (France and Britain) have nuclear weapons“, said Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. He argued that “otherwise only Russia will have nuclear weapons“.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov noted yesterday that it is yet to become clear what exactly the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron is. “These are not initiatives within the framework of the European Union and the formats of the Union, but it is important that we are participants in all formats that guarantee the security of the Union“, Zhelyazkov added.
After Macron first expressed the idea of including Europe in French strategic thinking on nuclear deterrence in 2020, the reaction of his EU partners was lukewarm, Reuters recalled.
But the clearest sign that the mood has changed after five weeks of Trump's presidency came from Germany, with Merz saying Berlin might need to become less dependent on the US nuclear umbrella, the agency noted.
Some EU leaders have expressed caution.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala called the debate "premature". "We may consider it, but for now our security is guaranteed by close cooperation with the United States," Fiala told a news conference in Prague ahead of an EU summit.
Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also expressed reservations in Brussels yesterday. In response to journalistic questions, he said that NATO's existing nuclear deterrent system "should not be abandoned."
Experts say that France cannot hope to replicate the same level of strategic nuclear infrastructure that the United States has in Europe. France has only a fraction of the number of air-launched nuclear weapons that the United States can provide, and any upgrade of its systems would be expensive and complex, Reuters notes.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is participating in the extraordinary European Council in Brussels dedicated to Ukraine and strengthening European defense, reiterated that she does not consider the proposal to send European soldiers to Ukrainian territory after peace is agreed there to be effective, ANSA and "TG Com 24" reported, quoted by BTA.
She again stressed that she ruled out sending Italian soldiers to Ukraine.
Meloni said it was better to think about more permanent solutions, such as expanding the scope of NATO's Article 5.
Meloni also said that she did not find the word “rearmament“ for the adequate one, because the topic of defense concerns raw materials and many other areas. Using the term “re-armament“, according to Meloni, does not give very clear messages to Europeans.
“The concept of defense in Europe is a broader concept than the word “re-armament“, I think the word “re-armament“ is not appropriate to talk about what we are doing“, said Meloni. “Defense is not just about supplying the right weapons, but about raw materials, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure. It is a sector that includes so many areas that we also have to deal with on a daily basis“, she added. "Maybe we are giving messages that are not very clear to citizens, and I think we need to explain what we are doing on this issue".
However, the Italian prime minister expressed satisfaction that Italy's proposal to remove defense spending from the deficit rules had been heard.
However, she expressed disagreement about the possibility of using cohesion funds for defense.
"We fought to exclude the possibility of cohesion funds being redirected to defense spending," Meloni explained. "There is a clause that provides for voluntariness: those countries that want to can do it, we cannot prevent others from making this choice. But Italy does not intend to do so and I will propose to the parliament to make it clear from the outset that Italy does not intend to divert funds from the cohesion funds, which are very important for us, to purchase weapons. This will be a decision that we will take together with the parliament“, Meloni stressed.
There is a division in Italy regarding the EC plan to rearm Europe. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani welcomed the plan, but also recalled that security cannot be guaranteed in Ukraine and Europe without solid transatlantic ties and NATO and that it is impossible to achieve this without the United States.
However, Tajani acknowledged that Europe must spend more on its security. He recalled that security does not only mean war, but also security on the streets, the security that compatriots feel every day, current risks, threats, such as terrorism.
Tajani also spoke out against using cohesion funds to finance the European defense plan.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League party, is against the EC plan. The two main opposition parties, the Democratic Party and the Five Star Movement, are also against the plan. According to both parties, the plan is a big mistake and will not bring about a common European defense.
Meloni commented after the summit in Brussels and the statement of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called French President Emmanuel Macron "Napoleon" and hinted at the end of the French emperor. According to Meloni, this statement should not be responded to because, in her opinion, this is a demonstration by Putin, intended for his own people.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that his country will bring forward the schedule for increasing defense spending to 2 percent of GDP, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Sánchez made the announcement after a summit in Brussels, where European leaders announced plans to spend more on defense and continue their support for Ukraine.
Spain had previously set a deadline of 2029 to increase its defense spending to 2 percent of GDP.