Europe readies itself for greater defence spending

US policy towards Ukraine may require Europe to assume the full burden of its defence, and intelligence suggests it needs to prepare to face Russia

The first of 24 Rafale aircraft arrived at Tanagra air force base in January 2022. Greece last July also ordered the first 20 of a possible 40 F-35 fifth-generation fighters from Lockheed Martin. Together the two types of aircraft are giving it a qualitative edge in the Aegean (Photo © John T Psaropoulos)

The question of how Europe is to defend itself with or without the US is suddenly the most important on the continent. Like Ernest Hemingway’s description of bankruptcy, it came upon us slowly, then very fast.

Once US defence secretary Pete Hegseth made it clear on February 12 that America was no longer committed to restoring Ukraine’s 1991 borders, or even pretending it was, and reversed NATO’s 2008 pledge to one day admit the embattled nation, Europe felt less assured of its freedom.

Once US president Donald Trump reached over Kyiv to see if he could reach an understanding directly with Moscow, he abolished his predecessor’s promise not to impose an imperfect peace upon Ukraine (see Hellenica’s more detailed account of Trump’s foreign policy changes). The fact that he, like Russian president Vladimir Putin, seeks to exploit Ukraine’s mineral wealth, has made US aid chillingly conditional and even exploitative.