Summary
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called for an “immediate” summit between the US, EU, and Western allies to discuss Ukraine following a heated White House meeting between Trump and President Zelenskyy.
The February 28 meeting ended without agreement on a minerals deal after escalating into a confrontation over US aid and peace deal conditions.
Meloni warned that Western division “makes us all weaker” as European leaders reaffirmed support for Ukraine.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas commented that “the free world needs a new leader,” while European allies worry about being excluded from US-Russia negotiations to end the war.
I love reading about people not knowing the EU military industry writing about how it’s somehow weak. Newsflash: it’s not. We don’t talk or write about it 'cause it’s sensitive data. We protect sensitive data. Our armies may not be strong, but our military industry is.
Your industries can’t even supply artillery and basic equipment to Ukraine, at least nowhere at the level needed to win the war. This is well-known. European leaders have been harping on the need to upgrade capacities.
So, newsflash: sorry, your military industry isn’t up to par yet. The potential is there. Many of the technologies are there. The actual support and capacity to make the most out of that potential is lacking.
This isn’t in any way a controversial opinion. The reality on the ground with constant shortages and European leaders themselves acknowledging the military industry needs more support is well known.
(Looks accusingly at the SA80 / L85 platform… And the Challenger 2)
So strong it buys all relevant jets from the us.
So strong.
choice for US jets was basically obligated for many countries because they had to choose a model that is capable of carrying US made nukes stored on territory. French and Brits make fine jets.
Europe’s euro fighter jet is and was a very respectable fighter. With the shift towards stealth with the latest generation, it may be falling behind in key areas but still a good air craft. Developing a jet is a huge, huge undertaking and arguably Europe’s resources could be spent better elsewhere rather than trying to develop an F35/F22 competitor.
Europe does have industrial and military capacity issues. This is well known and European leaders are among the quickest to point it out. No idea why the guy above wants to bury his head in the sand on that.
The biggest issues are arguably fragmentation and tepid political/societal support. Europe has various strengths but work is needed to make the most out of their potential.