In Warsaw, EU continues push for unity in defense

WARSAW — The European Commission will continue to strengthen its defense capabilities to help defend Ukraine in its ongoing conflict with Russia, according to Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubillius. 

“It’s very crucial to help Ukraine to defend itself and to defend the whole Europe,” Kubilius said here at the Warsaw Security Forum on Tuesday.

Kubillius’ comments come after the Trump administration has repeatedly called for Europe to become more self-reliant. However, Kubillius said his remarks are unrelated to US President Donald Trump’s statements alone, but rather a shift in global defense posturing as a whole. 

“And that’s why [the] Commission president proposed to look into possibility to have what is called now the European Security Council, with member states, and … [the] United Kingdom, Ukraine, Norway, and Canada, which is close to Europe,” Kubilius said.

During her annual State of the Union Address in September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pushed for the creation of the European Security Council, as Breaking Defense previously reported. 

“For a long time we have discussed a leaders’ format focused on the security of our continent,” von der Leyen said at the time. “This is even more urgent now.”

The European Security Council could address the hurdle of fragmentation across the continent, Kibillius explained Tuesday. 

Norwegian Minister of Defense Tore O. Sandvik agreed at the Warsaw Security Forum that Europe as a whole needs to band together. 

“We have to take our responsibility. We are going to do that in Norway and we will go on for Europe,” he said.

“We now have a coalition of 11 countries in Europe supporting the anti-ballistic coalition, trying to develop anti-ballistic missile systems for Europe, because we need that,” Sandvik said.

“To a global level, we can support both countries in the Middle East, the US themselves, Europe, and our Pacific friends. What we can do in Ukraine, we can pass, we can develop, we can learn, and we can build new systems,” he added.

Hungarian Minister of Defence Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said that under a new government, Budapest is aiming to focus more on the EU, particularly by getting the general public’s support. 

“And we have a pretty large support. We have to do that. We have to change the mindset of the Hungarian society,” he said. “So, if you see what is happening in Hungary right now, more and more people are coming to the EU, more society is supporting them, and we try to introduce the Hungarian military to the society who can trust.” 

Ruszin-Szendi also appealed for EU countries to have a better plan for potential future conflict, saying “if you see the different countries, the different interests, and different countries in Europe, see the threats, and the danger of aggression in Europe … [then] we have to find a way and we have to be able to deal with that.”

Netherlands Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius explained that showing a united front is especially important in a hybrid war — a war that uses propaganda and disinformation in addition to physical attacks.

This sentiment was also laid out in France’s 2035 national security plan released in September. 

The next conflict, according to Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, will not be ended “with tanks and guns,” but rather will “start and end with communication and … who controls the narrative.”

“And I think that we have to be very aware of that. And we, in our part of Europe, need to turn up to get that narrative right,” she continued. “I think that our narrative needs to get stronger because the story of the other [side] is way less factual.