EU leaders promised to support Ukraine "as much as it takes." But, despite harsh statements, the bloc still lacks an “economic bazooka” that would allow to eliminate the glaring gap between geopolitical ambitions and reality in Europe, which for years saved on defense and turned out to be overly dependent on the United States, writes Bloomberg Lionel Laurent.
According to him, Europeans know that they need to "make amends". However, bottlenecks in production, the fragmentation of the military industry, and limited state finances slow down the process. In particular, shells that France can produce in one day are used up in a matter of minutes on the Ukrainian front.
Within Europe, there are still deep divisions over how exactly to solve the problems it faces. While French President Emmanuel Macron talks about the "military economy" and threatens to send troops to Ukraine, Germany and other "thrifty" countries oppose the potential dispersion of financial and political capital, the author of the article notes.
The EU needs to create a single defense investment fund in the amount of about €100 billion. But, judging by everything, Europe is not going to take such a step yet and may fully realize its predicament only after another term of Trump, Laurent thinks.
