The latest Eurobarometer survey showed that 68% of EU citizens want the EU to play a greater role in protecting them from crises and security risks. At the same time, support for Ukraine’s accession is not uniform across member states.
Given that the Ukrainian armed forces now have the most experience in modern warfare, the question arises: how can EU citizens understand that standing with Ukraine will make the European Union stronger and safer? Andrius Kubilius, former Prime Minister of Lithuania and a longtime advocate of European security, shared his perspective in an interview with Ukrinform, emphasizing the importance of clearly communicating shared values and strategic realities.
"This is exactly what we are trying to do. My message is very simple. Considering what our intelligence services report—that Russia could test Article 5 within three to five years, meaning it may initiate aggression against countries on the eastern flank—we need to understand that the Russian army is already battle-tested, much stronger than it was in 2022, and capable of deploying millions of drones. Ukrainians are skilled in operating drones, but the Russians are also quite strong in this area. This is the challenge we face. However, I am not sure that we are currently at the peak of our capability to defend ourselves against such a battle-tested army.
At the same time, on the democratic side of our European continent, there is another battle-tested army: the Ukrainian army. Ukraine also has a defense industry proven by war. Not including Ukraine in our defense planning would be a major mistake. That is why we are preparing capabilities and now supplying what is necessary to enhance our material defense readiness. When I say “material,” I mean weapons, drones, and other types of armaments—everything we need to produce and procure.
But we also need to start talking about—institutional defense readiness, which I have mentioned several times. Considering not only the known Russian threat but also the fact that the Americans may gradually start shifting more attention toward the Indo-Pacific to counter China’s military presence, we need to think about how to organize this work ourselves on our European continent.
My task, as defined in my functional duties by the President of the European Commission, is to develop and implement the concept of a true European Defense Union, which I see as a new security architecture on the European continent. This would also include Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Norway, ensuring we have every capability to become as strong as possible."
