Ukraine Crisis Media Center together with the Consortium for Defense Information organized a roundtable discussion where leading experts and politicians discussed the future of Euro-Atlantic security, Ukraine’s role in Europe’s new defense architecture and ways to strengthen cooperation in the defense industry.
According to Valeriy Chaly, Chairman of the Board of the UCMC, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, the United States is likely to pay more attention to its continent and the so-called third echelon of defense in the Pacific.
“After the US Vice President’s speech at the Munich Conference, the European Union realized that it urgently needs to look for its own solutions in the field of defense security. I would like to remind you that there was the Western European Union, created without the United States, which was actually some analog of NATO. However, all the efforts of European countries to unite, create joint defense enterprises, and find a common solution to the nuclear umbrella eventually ended in the fact that this organization ceased to exist. Therefore, the conclusion is that Europe is not yet ready to close the issue of financing all orders and certain types of weapons, starting with strategic aviation aircraft and ending with communications equipment, without the United States in the coming years,” the diplomat said.
At the same time, he noted, Ukraine itself needs to see its strategy of conformity with the European Union – not America, because we are joining the European Union, and we will coordinate our actions there in the new environment to counter the threat that will not go away. In this regard, Ukraine should be close to Europe in building a new security strategy.
“Ukraine has to cement their resolute positions now, and it doesn’t matter what it will be called – a coalition of the resolute, willing, courageous. It should be a coalition of effective countries that have weapons and can add real components to force the enemy to peace. And this should be done immediately. Training centers, veteran pilots flying F-16 or Mirage aircraft, our joint defense production in Ukraine and military protection of our partners,” said Valeriy Chaly.
Mykola Knyazhytsky, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament and member of the Supervisory Board of the Consortium for Defense Information, believes that Europe should create its own powerful armed forces capable of conducting full-fledged combat operations without the participation of the United States.
“Obviously, Europe doesn’t want to spend money on it, sometimes it can’t spend money on it, and sometimes some EU member states have different views. And there are countries that have the same views that are not members of the European Union, like the UK, for example. Life itself is pushing the EU and Europe to address those issues,” he said.
The MP drew attention to the rapid pace at which the coalition led by France and the United Kingdom is being formed.
“Today, we are no longer talking about ephemeral peacekeepers, but rather about very specific stabilization forces of European countries that will be deployed in Ukraine as one of the components of our country’s security guarantees. And what is important is that no one in Europe is interested in Russia’s position on this issue,” noted Mykola Knyazhytsky.
He calls the decision to send the chiefs of staff of Great Britain and France to Ukraine a replacement for American military coordination in strategic operational planning of military operations, preparation for the presence of a European contingent on the territory of Ukraine, and the transition of relations between the leading European countries and Ukraine to the level of a de facto military alliance.
“Today it is difficult to predict what the new European security system will look like, but it is obvious that Ukraine’s role in this security system will be crucial,” the politician emphasized. “Ukraine has the largest army in Europe with real combat experience, it protects the eastern flank, where the greatest threats to European security are concentrated. Any European defense system will be impossible without Ukraine, which will make Europe strong and capable of self-defense. Europe’s security depends on peace on Ukrainian terms, regardless of what the United States, and especially Russia, think about it.”
In March, European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius and EU Diplomacy Chief Kaja Kallas presented a new EU defense and industrial strategy (White paper) in Brussels. Mykhailo Samus, Director of the New Geopolitics Research Network and co-founder of the Consortium for Defense Information, shared his view on the European efforts in this area.
According to him, the Joint White Paper for European Defense Readiness 2030 is a visionary document that defines the main directions of defense development, including a whole section on Ukraine.
“In principle, the document is correct. It says that budget deficit restrictions are lifted in all EU countries. This will attract up to 800 billion euros for 4 years and will make it possible to develop the areas that are spelled out there – air and missile defense, artillery systems, ammunition, missiles, drones and anti-drone systems, military mobility, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, cyber and electronic warfare, and strategic means of ensuring and protecting critical infrastructure. Everything seems to be written correctly, but the question remains: “Who will implement it all?”
Ukrainian experts propose and try to convey to the European Commission the need to make a political decision on the creation of command structures and, in general, such a concept as Joint European Defense capabilities. Currently, this concept is not mentioned in the Joint White Paper.
“That is, we have money, we have directions for the development of the defense industry, strategic directions for the development of defense policy, but it is unclear who will be in charge of this,” summarized Mykhailo Samus.
The discussion was also attended by Valentyn Badrak, Director of the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies and co-founder of the Consortium for Defense Information; Serhiy Zgurets, Director of Defense Express; Valeriy Borovyk, Chairman of the Board of the New Energy of Ukraine Alliance; and Oleksiy Yizhak, expert at the National Institute for Strategic Studies and co-founder of the Consortium for Defense Information.
At the end of the roundtable, Valeriy Chaly noted that the mood of expectation, which has always been evident in Ukraine, is wrong and the level of discussion that this meeting demonstrated indicates a change in this mood.
“Our task is not to tell our partners what they could do, but to tell them what they must do and how to do it together,” emphasized the Chairman of the Board of Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
