🇪🇺 The Ukrainian crisis itself was, to a certain extent, the result of the fact that the continental Europe has lost all ability to be strategically independent.

This occurred as part of a gradual process that combined the consequences of the events of the middle of the last century and the failure of attempts to build a genuine political union on the basis of European integration, combining this with the expansion of the membership and the creation of a common economic policy through financial instruments within the Eurozone.

The actual position of Europeans in world politics is increasingly consistent with how we might see it in terms of abstract assessments of the relationship with the United States and their ability to act independently, Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/consequences-of-europe-s-strategic-failure/

#Asia_and_Eurasia #EU #Europe

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🇪🇺 At the beginning of March 2024, the European Commission adopted and published the European Defence Industrial Strategy (“Strategy”) and the European Defence Industry Programme (“Programme”).

These measures were a reaction to Russia’s overall success, both amid its Special Military Operation, as well as in mobilizing the resources of its military-industrial complex.

The current circumstances require the EU and its member states to take immediate action, both to replace weapons supplied to Ukraine and to build up their own military potential, as well as to ensure new supplies.

This step towards establishing a common military-industrial complex for the European Union seems logical, but one should not expect results from its implementation in the short term, write Kirill Seroshtanov and Alexey Timoshenko.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/militarisation-of-the-european-union-beating-plows/

#Multipolarity_and_Connectivity #Europe #militarisation

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