EU response to Putin and Trump Too little and too late

68 years after the Treaty of Rome, which laid the foundation for European reconciliation after the Second World War, and 35 years after German reunification, the EU is entering a new arms race. In doing so, it is betraying its historic mission. Instead of peace and reconciliation "from the Atlantic to the Urals" (Adenauer, De Gaulle), the motto is now "re-armament".

This slogan alone, issued by Commission President and former German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen , is a slap in the face for all history-conscious Europeans.

The EU has never been armed, it does not even have its own army. The EU treaty prohibits Brussels from spending money on weapons. But the CDU politician ignores this.

The Trump problem has been known for eight years

Of course, the situation is serious. Russia is waging war in Ukraine , the USA is shaking up its alliance commitments . But none of this is new.

We have known for eight years that Donald Trump does not bode well for the EU and NATO: since his first term as US President. And it has been clear since the Russian invasion of Ukraine three years ago that peace in Europe is under threat.

Only now have EU politicians put two and two together and tried to give an answer. But what Olaf Scholz & Co. decided in Brussels comes too late - and it is too little.

“Too little, too late” – the slogan from the euro crisis still holds true. The EU reacted far too late to the new global situation. It is doing far too little to get back into the game.

The new armament programs only sound impressive on paper. Von der Leyen announced 800 billion euros - but only 150 billion will come from Brussels, and that only through new debt.

Most of it is fictitious. There is hardly any fresh money involved - and it comes too late to help Ukraine out of the mess caused by the halt in US military aid.

Strategy and perspective are lacking

The war can no longer be won, not even with an EU arms boost. At most it can be prolonged, which would not help anyone. This points to the second shortcoming: the complete lack of a political strategy and a future perspective.

Even after three years of war, the EU does not consider it necessary to develop its own peace plan for Ukraine or to discuss a new European security order.

In the NATO double-track decision in 1979, there was at least an offer of disarmament. Today, the Europeans don't even want to talk to Russia anymore. They are leaving the field to Trump without a fight, instead of taking diplomatic action themselves.

The unpredictable US president will continue to make his deals at the expense of Ukraine and Europe. The fact that the EU is now preaching rearmament will hardly impress him - that is exactly what Trump has always demanded.

No problem solved, but two new ones created

The conclusion is bitter: the “historic” summit has not solved a single problem, but has created at least two new ones: a huge mountain of debt that no one knows how Germany and the EU are supposed to pay off.

And a cold war with Russia, which is likely to continue even after a hopefully quick and just peace agreement in Ukraine. After all, the arms race has only just begun. There is no end in sight.