Western Europe is gearing up for the danger of war with Russia, whose pledge is a democratic social order and a system of European values that “Putin’s Russia” considers “outdated, distorted,” European Union (EU) analysts report the views of the majority of politicians in Europe.
Russia’s stubbornness and resilience have surprised and caught NATO planners and Kyiv’s helpers in the conflict with Russia off guard after two years of war, but EU leaders have made it clear that the EU remains united and will support Ukraine “as long as necessary.”
At the same time, the EU is making serious plans to build its own defense, strengthening its military forces, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine has shaken the security foundations of Western Europe, long convinced that war is a thing of the past and that focus should be on economic and social development.
Analysts and media in the West warn of great doubts about how and to what extent the Ukrainian war will end, and now in Western Europe, there is extensive work on unifying the European defense structure and continuing to assist Ukraine with money and weapons to establish a security barrier against “Putin’s Russia” and its imperial ambitions.
There have been major uncertainties in the ruling circles and the public of European countries about whether the United States (U.S.) will continue to provide military and financial support to Kyiv, especially if Donald Trump comes to power in Washington this year.
French President Emmanuel Macron has called a meeting of EU leaders and ministers of leading EU countries in Paris on February 26th to “consider how to strengthen partner cooperation to support Ukraine.”
Leading French generals and experts say that “the EU must create conventional power based on national armies, develop the military industry, and seriously consider a nuclear shield.”
An analysis by the British King’s College emphasizes that military support for Kyiv will be crucial for the further course of the war because “then Putin can see, in the third year of the war, that he cannot win, as it seemed in the second year.”
An analysis by the Moscow Institute for Contemporary Development appeared in the Western media, in which it is stated that “it is obvious that the third year of the Russia-Ukraine war is not only a tragic regional conflict but also a clash of civilizations and the rearrangement of the world order… the declining power of the West and its model of democracy and, on the other hand, the rising East, authoritarian regimes such as those seen in Eastern Europe.”
The Moscow Institute adds that most European leaders see Russia as a life-threatening danger, but notes that “the concept of a Eurasian civilization led by Russia is difficult to achieve due to population decline, lack of appeal to cultural values, increasing economic difficulties… yet all sides are dramatically confronted.”
The only way to end the war?
Some media have also pointed out the conclusions of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs that “the cessation of conflict and Ukraine’s non-entry into NATO is the only way to end the war” and that Western allies must abandon the “extremely dangerous offer of Ukraine’s accession to NATO… which is at the core of Russian concern and the main cause of the war.”
The Institute in Lagos believes that “to ease East-West tensions, Western allies of Ukraine must work much harder to approach Russian President Putin than they currently do with the current policy of hostility and regime change in Moscow.”, N1 writes.
E.Dz.
