EU defence chief Andrius Kubilius is pushing a European Defence Union to tie Ukraine with its European allies, but the idea is already under fire, with one MEP warning that it risks distracting from the current job of bulletproofing the EU.
EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius is pushing a new geopolitical proposal: a treaty-backed European Defence Union that would include the EU as well as Britain, Norway and Ukraine.
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Speaking in Poland on Wednesday, Kubilius said Europe must be ready to defend itself with or without allies in Washington – adding, "there is no time to waste”.
“It would (be) a big strategic mistake from our side not to seek such an integration,” Kubilius said.
“Let's be realistic. NATO membership for Ukraine for the time being is not available and full membership of the European Union is a complicated process, which cannot guarantee quick integration of defence capabilities.
“Those are the reasons why the most effective instrument could be to look for some new instrument, which would concentrate specifically on the integration of all the European defence capabilities.”
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has pushed the EU to ramp up its military capabilities, launching a €150 billion defence loan scheme and prioritising military mobility.
Her efforts come as US President Donald Trump has criticised European defence spending and threatened to pull out of NATO, with his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth last year lambasting Europe for alleged “pathetic....freeloading” when it comes to defence.
French President Emmanuel Macron said last weekend in Greece that Europe must recognise that Russia, Iran and China is "dead against" the bloc, and so is the US.
Trump’s "erratic" leadership style is one reason why Europe and its allies should seriously consider Kubilius’ proposal, according to Guntram Wolff, a senior fellow at Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank.
Wolff told Euronews that a European Defence Union would help allies spend money more effectively on expensive infrastructure projects, such as back-end defences like satellites, without needing the support from the US.
“Getting a coalition of the willing of these countries, I think, is quite realistic,” he said.
“We are at a point where you have to really understand that the US is on its way out of Europe.”
Wolff said the concept is gaining momentum amongst Brussels heavyweights ever since von der Leyen first suggested it in late 2024. "European citizens think that we need to do more European defence and stop doing it just at the national level," he said.
Polling data from Eurobarometer indicates that more than two-thirds of Europeans (68%) believe their country is under threat, while one in five (20%) say more defence money should be spent.
Is there support?
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has previously resisted calls for a separate European army alongside national forces, arguing it would blur chains of command in a crisis.
But she has acknowledged that some countries are too small to go it alone. “If we do it together, we can actually cover a bigger area,” she said, using air defences such as drones as an example.
Estonian MEP Riho Terras told Euronews the proposal is a “far-reaching...philosophical discussion” that could create confusion in a conflict. “Who will give the orders? Who will be the chief of defence of Europe?” he said.
“This is not even close to reality.”
What is needed, the former Estonian Defence Force commander said, is more money for Europe’s defence manufacturing sector, “not start to create something in addition to it.”
He also questioned whether it had the backing of his fellow MEPs. “There are lots of dreamers here in this Parliament, but I cannot see a broad support to that idea," he said.
How would it work?
Maria Martisiute, an analyst with the European Policy Centre, said there were big questions regarding what the European Defence Union means institutionally, and who pulls the political levers.
"If it is in the scope of the European Union...then it will probably be something of limited power, because I don't see how allies will delegate this political, military decision making to the institutions?" she told Euronews.
Although the EU is rearming in the face of Moscow's threats, Martisiute said it is moving too slowly. "I fear that we will keep sleepwalking and dragging our feet until we have a casualty event on our grounds, on our territory of NATO," she said.