At the Brussels summit on 6 March, leaders of the 27 European Union (EU) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will discuss the regional security situation and pledge to support Kiev. However, Hungary could undermine solidarity by refusing to support a joint statement on Ukraine.
The context of this meeting is growing concerns about Russia's possible expansion of military action to EU territory. Trump has previously affirmed his commitment to NATO but also stressed that Europe needs to have greater responsibility for its own security.
He has suggested that countries that do not invest enough in defense may not receive protection from the United States. Washington's policy change from strongly supporting Ukraine to a more frugal stance towards Russia has raised concerns about their safety in many European countries.
In this situation, French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris was ready to discuss expanding France's nuclear protection to European partners. Meanwhile, in Germany, parties negotiating to form a new government have agreed to ease borrowing limits to save billions of euros more for defense.
The European Commission has also just announced a plan to mobilize up to 800 billion euros to strengthen the region's defense capabilities, including 150 billion euros as loans to EU governments.
EU leaders are expected to welcome the proposals and ask officials to quickly translate them into draft laws. However, the detailed unification between member states remains a major challenge.
Regarding support for Ukraine, most EU leaders want to assert to President Zelensky that Kiev can still rely on Europe. However, the EU has not yet reached a consensus on the specific figures for military aid this year.
One proposal under consideration is that each member country contributes on an economic scale, to ensure the EU can provide at least 20 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine this year, equivalent to 2024. However, some Nordic countries, the Baltic and the Netherlands believe that France, Italy and Spain have not contributed enough. These countries have denied the allegations, saying that the public data does not fully reflect their actual level of support.
In addition, the consensus of all 27 EU member states is still uncertain as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban may refuse to make a joint statement on Ukraine. As an ally of Mr Trump and a close friend of Russia, Mr. Orban said that there are strategic differences in the approach to the issue of Ukraine that the EU cannot narrow.
With these disagreements, the Brussels summit will be an important test of Europe's solidarity in dealing with new security challenges.
