Ukraine's military may become Europe's optimal security guarantee

Even Putin, having unleashed a brutal war in the center of Europe, did not force Europe itself to think about its security. And only after Donald Trump's return to the White House did Europeans have to start thinking about themselves and their defense.

The problem is that the reality of the Russian threat today is obvious to European elites, but is little perceived by the population.

"The farther from the Russian border, the fewer people perceive potential war as something that could actually happen in their lives."

Despite the fact that no one has any doubts anymore, the entire security system of a whole continent completely depends on the mood of a few people in Washington. Let us remember how easily these moods change, and we get the real price of peaceful life for practically any European country.

The situation around Greenland only once again emphasizes the weakness of the current European security architecture. Obviously, the reaction to an American invasion of Greenland would be the collapse of NATO, and Russia will never have a better moment for its invasion of any EU country. Obviously, the Russians will act quickly, while the Europeans have not yet managed to find a way to compensate for the absence of security guarantees from the U.S., and the combat experience gained by the Russian army remains relevant.

"Currently, the EU does not have its own army. With small exceptions, the national armies of most countries are absolutely incapable of combat, have neither weapons, nor military personnel, nor people in reserve ready to stand in defense in case of an attack on Europe."

At the same time, although the Ukrainian army is in fact the only combat-capable asset of Europe, in case of a Russian invasion, Europeans will find it difficult to count on Ukraine. After all, we are not a member of NATO, and therefore we have no legal obligations to defend other countries, as would be the case if we became a member of the Alliance.

Since polls in almost all EU countries show that citizens are not ready to fight even for their own state, the optimal security guarantee for Europe would be the creation of its own army based on the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This seemed like fantasy when I wrote about it for the first time several months ago, but thanks to Donald Trump, we see how the idea of a common army is gradually moving into serious discussions at the level of EU country leaders.

"The creation of a common European army is almost the only guarantee of security for the EU. And this would really help Ukraine today in the war against Ukraine. The integration of the Ukrainian Armed Forces into the EU structure with an appropriate level of service pay, technical support, and social guarantees will help qualitatively renew the composition of the Ukrainian army."

The very fact that a Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier receives the salary of a European military member will help both in the matter of replenishing personnel, including with foreigners, and in attracting qualified civilians to important military positions. And the combat experience gained by such an army could become a real guarantee that Putin will never even be able to think about trying to repeat it.

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About the author. Mykola Kniazhytskyi, journalist, Ukrainian lawmaker.

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