As the United States under Donald Trump appears to distance itself from Europe and Russia under Vladimir Putin advances its imperial ambitions, European nations are feeling increased pressure to enhance their security measures. On Thursday, March 20, a meeting of European leaders in Brussels focused on the defense strategies for the 27 member states. During this gathering, all leaders reaffirmed their commitment to rearmament and, with the exception of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, expressed their willingness to provide military assistance to Ukraine, a topic that had been previously addressed at the summit in Brussels on March 6.
At the Sofitel hotel on Place Jourdan, just a few hundred meters from the Schuman roundabout in the EU institutions district, significant discussions took place on Thursday. In the morning, leaders from the Christian Democratic faction of the European People’s Party (EPP), the dominant political group within the European institutions, convened to strategize for the upcoming summit. Present were 11 leaders from various European Union (EU) member states, including Kyriakos Mitsotakis from Greece and Donald Tusk from Poland, along with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EPP President Manfred Weber. Friedrich Merz, the likely future Chancellor of Germany, had to cancel his attendance at the last moment to continue negotiations in Germany regarding a coalition agreement aimed at forming a government. However, it is clear that Merz would have supported the outcomes of this pre-summit, as decisions could not be finalized without his endorsement.
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