The European Union’s decision to sharply increase defense spending and rearmament of the armies has become one of the most discussed issues in the world media. The emergency summit in Brussels, the result of which was the allocation of up to 150 billion euros for defense needs and the ability of states to retreat from strict budget restrictions, caused a wide response. Journalists and experts analyze how these steps will change the security situation in Europe, what consequences it will have for Ukraine, and how world players react to similar decisions. Despite the unanimous support of the defense initiative by the majority of EU countries, its adoption took place without the participation of Hungary, which also did not escape the attention of the media. How do the world media comment on the EU’s new defense strategy and what are the sentiments among international analysts?
La Libre Belgique – Belgium. The European Union accepted the challenge thrown by time – the Brussels-based La Libre Belgique approves of the EU’s actions:
“France and Germany are overcoming some of their prejudices, primarily in the field of budgetary policy, and thereby creating a dynamic that is a clear change of course. For the first time in its history, the European Union ceases to be an economic power, paralyzed by its own military helplessness, and begins to act as a strategic actor that must be taken seriously.
The declared 800 billion euros is not only a monetary amount, it is a clear reference from the side of Europe that refuses to be a bargaining chip in the game of fastidious geopolitical winds, a clear reference from the side of Europe that is ready to stand up for its ideals – and its citizens. … The European Union is quite capable of rallying when the most important thing is at stake.”
https://www.eurotopics.net/kurz/ne0
Kleine Zeitung – Austria. The European Union risks being left on the sidelines, fears the Viennese Kleine Zeitung:
“Each step requires a compromise that can only be achieved with a lot of hard work; every proposal has to be put through the mills of joint decision-making. Each phrase is placed on the scales of diplomacy. …All this looks like weakness.
… In short, we have the following: everything will not be managed by the European Union, but by the “coalition of the willing” created in London, a kind of set of NATO and European Union countries united by a common task. At best, the European Union can provide some foundations, for example – a financing package for rearmament, or providing further assistance to Ukraine, or holding summits – like those held in Brussels.”
https://www.eurotopics.net/kurz/ne1
Aargauer Zeitung – Switzerland. The end of hypocrisy has come – the Swiss Aargauer Zeitung believes:
“For decades, Europeans lived comfortably in their welfare states, scolding all the outcasts of this world from a safe distance. To the demands of the United States that Europe should do more for its own security, they responded only with empty phrases. Having behind you the most powerful military state in the world, you can not think about your weakness.
…And when you start taking care of yourself on your own, you make decisions on your own. Will the United States, led by President Trump, like it if a militarily strengthened Europe begins to speak for itself? Of course not. But then there will be no need to be hypocritical!”
https://www.eurotopics.net/kurz/ne2
444 – Hungary. Soon, it will not be so easy for Orbán to put cogs in the wheels of the European Union, – predicts the opposition Hungarian portal 444.hu:
“As an alternative format of European cooperation has already begun to take shape in recent days, this EU summit, judging by everything, has become the last opportunity for Orbán to create obstacles.
… On a number of key issues determining the future of Europe, a new formation [the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’] can take up the initiative of the European Council, which requires full consensus. And then Orban’s threats to “impose a veto” will no longer have any force. However, this was not the case at the current EU summit: Orbán did cause a lot of damage with his veto.”
https://www.eurotopics.net/kurz/ne3
TVXS – Greece. The left-wing Greek portal TVXS criticizes the decision to build up European arms:
“The only solution that would really benefit the citizens of Europe is first peace in Ukraine, and then the integration of Russia into the new system of European collective security. This decision would lead to a reduction in armaments, and not to their increase, as planned by the leadership of the European Union. After all, at the same time, it is completely not taken into account that the increase in military spending to the level of three percent of GDP – which is even less than the five percent that Trump demands from NATO countries – will lead to unpopular cuts and an even greater rise of extreme right-wing forces.”
