CARMEN VALERO
@carmenvalero20
berlin
ALBERTO HERNANDEZ
@albertohv_
Madrid
Updated Thursday, March 24, 2022-02:01
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The invasion of Ukraine has exposed the weaknesses of the European Union.
The Twenty-seven have transited for decades between
energy dependence on Russia and the military protection of the United States
, accommodated in the international order created after the Cold War, without a defined role as a bloc in a changing and multipolar world.
Ukraine will mark a before and after.
The need for a sovereign EU in the field of security and defense is making its way into the European pacifist discourse.
In just a couple of weeks, Russian President Vladimir Putin has achieved what the United States has been demanding from its allies for years: fattening the military budget with up to 2% of GDP.
The war in Ukraine has caught the European military industry so blindly that the US will also have to thank the Kremlin aggressor for the increase in orders to the Pentagon.
The EU has closed ranks against the violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, but
there are still internal differences on how to contribute to the defense of that country.
The fissures are located fundamentally on the eastern flank, with democracies built on the remains left by decades under communist regimes and
a political spectrum that ranges from equidistance with Russia to rejection.
The invasion of Ukraine has boosted the cohesion of the Eastern bloc
and reinforced the anti-Russian position that Poland leads in the region and in the Visegrad Group.
The clamp that Warsaw made with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Brussels has weakened.
The shock waves of the war in Ukraine are felt throughout Europe.
The tiles on the board are repositioned for a new game.
It is a matter of time before the effects of the sanctions imposed by Russia will open new cracks on the Western front with their boomerang effect, but
movements unthinkable until now have taken place.
Sweden and Finland reconsider their status as non-aligned, despite threats of retaliation from Moscow.
Switzerland has broken its neutrality by joining the sanctions against the Kremlin.
The desire to belong to the EU and NATO as an umbrella of protection against Russia has multiplied.
The Western Balkans are pounding on the door and even Kosovo aspires to NATO membership in anticipation of an attack by Serbia, an ally of Russia, and to maintain regional order.
The EU has become aware that it has to take control of its destiny, but it will only travel strengthened by the geopolitical changes that mark the war in Ukraine if it pays more attention to what it puts in its saddlebags.
Sources:
To find out the position of each country, various articles from EL MUNDO, 'The New York Times', 'Politico', 'Corriere della Sera', ECFR, tweets from the prime ministers and ministers of Foreign Affairs of the countries involved, the Hungarian embassy in Washington and the EFE and AFP agencies.
Defense spending data for NATO countries and their deployment on the eastern flank come from NATO, SIPRI (data from Russia and Ukraine) and the Spanish Ministry of Defense (deployment in Latvia).
Writing:
Carmen Valero and Alberto Hernández.
Infographics:
Alberto Hernández.
Art direction:
María González Manteca.
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