Munich: Two top European leaders stiffened their spines on Saturday over unsettling new policies from Washington under President Donald Trump, as Ukraine’s president urged creation of an “armed forces of Europe” and the leader of Germany denounced meddling in its election after US Vice President JD Vance met with a German far-right leader.
Strident speeches from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Day 2 of the Munich Security Conference testified to the impact of a blizzard of Trump decisions that have resonated at home and in Europe, notably his hopes to end the Russia-Ukraine war and nurture perceived allies on the continent.
Ramping up his desire for a more muscular and mighty Europe, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s three-year fight against an invading Russian army has proved that a foundation exists for the creation of a European army that has long been discussed among some continental leaders.
“I really believe that time has come,” he said. “The armed forces of Europe must be created.”
It’s unclear whether the idea will catch on with European leaders. Zelenskyy has sought greater military and economic support from the European Union for years and repeatedly warned that other parts of Europe could be vulnerable to Russia’s expansionist ambitions too.
While the bloc — along with the United States – has been one of Kyiv’s strongest backers, pockets of political disagreement in EU over its approach to Moscow and economic realities, including national debt levels that have crimped defence spending, have gotten in the way of greater support.
Zelenskyy alluded to a phone conversation between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, after which Trump said he and Putin would likely meet soon to negotiate a peace deal over Ukraine — breaking with the Biden administration’s harder line against Moscow over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Trump later assured Zelenskyy that he, too, would have a seat at the table to end the war. The Ukrainian leader insisted Europe should also have one.
“Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement, and the same rule should apply to all of Europe,” Zelenskyy said. “A few days ago, President Trump told me about his conversation with Putin. Not once did he mention that America needs Europe at the table. That says a lot.”
“The old days are over when America supported Europe just because it always had.”
Zelenskyy insisted that “three years of full-scale war have proven that we already have the foundation for a united European military force. And now, as we fight this war and lay the groundwork for peace and security, we must build the armed forces of Europe.”
Noting the presence of NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the audience, Zelenskyy said his idea “wasn’t about replacing the alliance. This is about making Europe’s contribution to our partnership equal to America’s”.
Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was “pleased” at what he called a shared commitment with the United States to the “preserving the sovereign independence of Ukraine,” and agreed with Trump that the Russia-Ukraine war must end.
But also Scholz took aim at the new political tack from Washington, affirming his strong stance against the far-right and said his country won’t accept people who “intervene in our democracy” — alluding to remarks by US Vice President JD Vance who scolded European leaders over their approach to democracy.
Ahead of February 23 elections in Germany, polls show the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party — whose co-leader met with Vance on Friday — currently in second, ahead of Scholz’s own Social Democrats.
Alluding to Germany’s Nazi past, Scholz said the longstanding commitment to “Never Again” — a return to the extreme right — was not reconcilable with support for AfD.
“We will not accept that people who look at Germany from the outside intervene in our democracy and our elections and in the democratic opinion-forming process in the interest of this party,” he said. “That’s just not done, certainly not amongst friends and allies. We resolutely reject this.”
“Where our democracy goes from here is for us to decide,” Scholz added.
A day earlier, Vance that he fears free speech is “in retreat” across the continent.
He said that many Americans saw in Europe “entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election.”
Vance also said no democracy could survive telling millions of voters that their concerns “are invalid or unworthy of even being considered”.
Scholz, shooting back, said “free speech in Europe means that you are not attacking others in ways that are against legislation and laws we have in our country.” He was referring to rules in Germany that restrict hate speech.
European leaders have been trying to make sense of a tough new line from Washington on issues including democracy and Ukraine’s future, as the Trump administration continues to upend transatlantic conventions that have been in place since after World War II.
Scholz acknowledged the need for support for Ukraine but also recognised the economic realities, notably that Germany has budgetary rules that limit how much its government can spend.
Trump has been pushing NATO member countries, like Germany, to spend more on their militaries and has gone so far as to call for an ambitious — if not unrealistic to some — target for alliance members to commit 5 per cent of their economies on defense, far more than the current 2 per cent goal.
Scholz said it would be “absolutely impossible to finance 2 per cent and even more without changing the debt regulation that we have” but that he believes Germans are ready to increase spending and there is “broad support for all those saying we should do more.” But for that, the rules will need to change, he explained.
He said he was “a bit disgusted” that some people in Germany and elsewhere had suggested that raising such spending is “something which we will be able to do,” waving his hand dismissively to suggest it would be easy.
“It will not happen if we are not serious, if we are not honest with the people telling them that spending more for defence will mean that we have to increase also the debt we have,” Scholz said. “We have the strength, we have to power, and we have the economic capabilities to do what is necessary.”
