Ukraine needs allies that are powerful, have high military spending and are firmly on its side. Currently, countries are either too small to matter, too poor to help, or too hesitant to use their power—if not all three. A new approach to uniting the 27 EU countries into one significant and decisive ally is necessary, but difficult to achieve, writes The Economist.
VIDEO OF THE DAY
“State thinking is catastrophically lacking. The war, which has turned into a war of attrition, appears to be working in favor of Russia, whose economy has proven resilient to Western sanctions. Support from Europe and America helped to maintain the solvency of the Ukrainian state and its soldiers in combat. But now the shortage of artillery shells, which Europe has promised to supply but cannot deliver, means that the immediate goal for Ukraine is to hold the front line, rather than a counterattack that could force Russia to make a peace offer. Worse, if Donald Trump wins the US elections in November, Europe may be left with the prospect of facing Russia alone.” – says the publication.
The 30 European countries that are part of NATO have the second largest military budget in the world (only the US is bigger), significantly exceeding Russia’s spending. Their economy is bigger than America’s. And throughout the continent there is a strong desire for Ukraine to win. The realization that Putin is unlikely to be satisfied with the invasion of just one neighbor is frightening, the publication notes.
“The problem is that the attributes needed to make a good ally are unevenly distributed. Most of Ukraine’s most ardent supporters are also the bloc’s smallest countries, both Baltic and Scandinavian. One of the EU members, the Czech Republic, impresses with its dexterity. In recent weeks, she managed to purchase 800,000 artillery shells from all over the place – enough to withstand Russia for three months.
One EU country is big, rich and therefore able to spend a lot. Unfortunately, Germany falls into the camp of those who hesitate, the authors of the article note. Its chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has increased defense spending and promised Ukraine lots of money and military equipment — often belatedly. After hesitating to provide any weapons, then delaying the supply of tanks, he now opposes the supply of Taurus missiles that could help Ukraine.
“If some countries lack size and others lack money or ambition, why not join forces? There are many schemes in the EU, some better than others. A better idea, proposed by Estonia and now supported by Macron, could be the EU’s joint borrowing of 100 billion euros, which would go towards strengthening the defense of the bloc. It would be a repeat of the EU’s €750 billion next-generation fund to fight the pandemic. Such a scheme can turn the EU, in fact, into the only large, solvent and potentially ambitious ally for Ukraine. It is currently being resisted by wealthier countries, mainly in northern Europe, which are ultimately paying back most of the money borrowed by the EU (and which only agreed to the pandemic fund as a one-time relief).” – says the publication.
Meanwhile, at the front, the Russian army is making some progress due to the shortage of ammunition in the Armed Forces.
47
Read us on Facebook