EU leaders are gathering in Brussels on Thursday for a special council on defense, as France’s President Emmanuel Macron warned that the continent was at a “turning point of history,” the BBC reports.
As well as rearmament, leaders are expected to discuss how the body can further support Kyiv in the face of US President Donald Trump’s announcement on Monday that he would suspend aid to Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky is invited to the summit.
In a sign of the depth of concern, President Macron said France was open to discussing extending the protection offered by its nuclear arsenal to its European partners, during an address to the nation on Wednesday.
That followed a call from Friedrich Merz, likely to be Germany’s next chancellor, to discuss increased nuclear sharing.
Europe was facing a “clear and present danger on a scale that none of us have seen in our adult lifetime”, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said, while European Council President António Costa said this was a “defining moment for Ukraine and European security”.
In a letter to European leaders, von der Leyen also said the continent had to “meet the moment” and “unleash our industrial and productive power and direct it to the goal of security”.
On Monday, von der Leyen announced an unprecedented defence package – dubbed ReArm Europe – and said that Europe was ready to “massively” boost its defence spending “with the speed and the ambition that is needed”.
Von der Leyen said the three proposals outlined in the ReArm Europe plan would both support Ukraine and “address the long-term need to take much more responsibility” for European security – likely referring to the fact many Europeans feel the continent can no longer automatically rely on the US to come to its aid.
