Speaking during the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing on March 6, China’s ambassador to the European Union Lu Shaye asserted that any peace agreement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should not be determined solely by the United States and Russia.
This perspective aligns with that of several major European nations, reflecting a shared interest in preventing a potential US-Russia rapprochement that could undermine EU and Chinese interests.
The EU is under increasing pressure to bolster its defence capabilities. This is partly because of the Trump administration’s demands for Nato allies to raise defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, a target no country in the transatlantic alliance currently meets. Defence spending in the euro zone reached 1.8 per cent of GDP in 2024, with Goldman Sachs estimating a rise to 2.4 per cent by 2027.
The European Commission’s proposed €800 billion (US$870 billion) EU-wide defence plan to enable member states’ defence-related borrowing reflects concerns over the unreliability of US protection. An important component of this military budget plan is the additional €150 billion defence fund to invest in military capabilities through EU-backed loans to encourage intra-European defence partnerships and reduce reliance on external defence systems.
These plans underscore a paradigm shift in the EU where major European countries no longer seem content with being a junior security partner to the US but seek greater autonomy in shaping global security.
If successfully implemented, the plan to enhance Europe’s military presence could rival even US influence in certain areas, fundamentally shifting global security dynamics. Plans by countries such as Germany’s to increase their military spending and France’s to extend its nuclear umbrella to non-nuclear European partners attest to Europe potentially becoming a serious military player in the region and beyond.
