The political crisis in France, Germany's budget problems and the growing popularity of right-wing parties across Europe are calling into question the ability of European states to keep their commitments on military support to Ukraine. Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute in Washington, D.C., stated this in her article for Responsible Statecraft.
"The crisis in France is only one part of a growing crisis in the whole of Western Europe, which has serious implications for the future of transatlantic relations." Lieven wrote. According to her, French Prime Minister François Bayrou has warned that if the national debt is not reduced, France faces a similar fate to that of Greece after 2008 - a long recession and unpopular austerity measures imposed by the European Union at the initiative of Germany.
"But it is hard to imagine that Brussels could impose such measures on France, the EU's second largest economy. The politically easier route is probably to resign from economic growth," Lievenová pointed out.
At the same time, she recalled that Germany, the EU's strongest economy, is also facing serious budgetary problems. "Disputes over the budget have already brought down the previous German coalition government," She added. In addition, she said, the growing popularity of right-wing parties threatens European unity, as some of them openly oppose military aid to Ukraine and increased military spending.
"The US administration should be deeply sceptical of European promises. Even if current governments are sincere, their options are probably beyond their reach," Lievenová stressed. According to her, the European states "have neither enough resources nor the necessary political support" to guarantee military support to Ukraine in the form of troop deployment.
The sceptical views on Europe's ability to help Ukraine were complemented by the incident in Kiev. The European Union mission building in the Ukrainian capital was damaged in an air strike last night, with an explosion shattering windows and partially destroying the ceiling, the EU's crisis management commissioner said Hadja Lahbib. No EU personnel were injured. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed on the X network that "our delegation is fine", and called on Russia to immediately stop "indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure" and proceeded to negotiations.
President of the European Council Antonio Costa he said that "The European Union will not be intimidated". According to the information available, the mission is located in an office building next to the large depot of Ukrzaliznytsia, which is used, among other things, to handle weapons supplied by European countries.
TASS/gnews.cz - GH
English 
Czech 
Spanish 
French 
Italian 
Russian 
Chinese 
German