EU leaders have pledged to support Ukraine “as long as necessary.” But despite the strong statements, the bloc still lacks the “economic bazooka” to bridge the glaring gap between geopolitical ambitions and reality in a Europe that has spent years skimping on defense and has become overly dependent on the United States, writes Bloomberg columnist Lionel Laurent.
According to him, the Europeans know that they need to “fix themselves.” However, bottlenecks in production, fragmentation of the military-industrial complex, and limited public finances are slowing down the process. In particular, shells that France can produce in one day are consumed in a matter of minutes on the Ukrainian front.
Within Europe, there are still deep divisions over how to address the challenges it faces. While French President Emmanuel Macron has been harping on about a “war economy” and threatening to send troops to Ukraine, Germany and other “frugal” countries have been vocal about the potential waste of financial and political capital.
The EU needs to create a single defense investment fund worth about €100 billion. But, apparently, Europe is not going to take such a step yet and may only fully realize its predicament after another Trump term, Laurent argues.
