Leaders used an emergency EU summit in Brussels gave their broad backing to the €800bn ReArm Europe plan outlined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday to beef up defences in the face of Russia’s aggression and to fill the gaps from an increasingly disengaged US.
Zelensky thanked European leaders for their “strong support” in recent weeks as US President Donald Trump’s administration has lambasted him. “During all this period, and last week, you stayed with us,” he said. “We are not alone, and these are not just words, we feel it.”
The response in Europe has been to sacrifice its own sacred cows on defence spending, tearing up rules that prevented countries from boosting their militaries while voicing previously unthinkable warnings about the US being an unreliable ally.
The summit comes after an astonishing turn of events in which Trump has pulled support for Ukraine and undermined Nato since a heated meeting with Zelensky in the Oval Office (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty)
He was echoed by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola who said, “It’s about damn time” this summit takes place, adding that Europe needs to show it’s “capable of standing up on its own two feet” and “put, finally, our money where our mouth is.”
The Commission’s ReArm Europe plan is a package of measures that includes loan schemes, looser EU fiscal rules to allow for more defence spending, and the redirection of regional grants into defence investments.
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While Merz was not at the EU summit – outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz is still representing Germany – his initiative is expected to spur other countries to splurge on defence.
While the formal summit agenda did not include discussions on specific military support for Ukraine, leaders were expected to talk in the sidelines about the proposed European Sky Shield scheme – backed by Britain – of 120 fighter jets to protect the country from Russian attacks.
Nausėda also urged the EU to move faster in filling the funding gap for Ukraine left by the US. “Ukraine is buying time for us with their blood,” he said, adding that the EU should commit to letting Ukraine join the bloc by 2030.
European Council President Antonio Costa, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the EU Summit in Brussels on Thursday, March 6, 2025 (AP Photo/Omar Havana)It also says there can be no peace or ceasefire negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine and that any agreement must be accompanied by “robust and credible security guarantees for Ukraine.”
However, Fico eventually accepted to the language and officials said that Orbán’s quibbles would be resolved or swept aside by the majority, with Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden indicating that he should not attempt to block the rest of the EU.
“We are living in historic times and we should be more united than ever — and if you do not share this view, the others should go ahead,” he said.
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