Small agreement, big disagreement

The developments and results of the recent summit have caused the EU more concern than optimism. The reason is that the consensus reached and expressed among the members at this meeting was very small and general, more nominal than real. Meanwhile, the disagreements among the members were deep and specific, fundamental and not temporary.

A German soldier takes part in training.

At this summit, EU members agreed to significantly strengthen their defense capabilities in the spirit of the European rearmament proposal and the new defense strategy proposed by the European Commission. However, the EU has only agreed in general terms, not specifically, and has not yet institutionalized it into a binding decision for its members. The bloc still allows its members to voluntarily implement the policy of strengthening their capabilities. Such a decision, although timely, is more nominal than substantial because many members do not fully understand the European Commission's view on the need to strengthen their armaments or will only strengthen their armaments to a level that is not as expected by the European Commission.

The EU’s disagreement over continued support for Ukraine has turned the 27-member EU into a 26+1 group. The meeting was supposed to produce a joint statement from the 26 members – minus Hungary – on continued support for Ukraine. But even in this statement, there were no specific figures on the level of money and weapons supplied to Ukraine. Hungary even announced that from now on it would veto any joint EU decision on continued support for Ukraine.

Such disagreement is harmful to the EU now and in the long term, as it will significantly limit the extent to which the bloc can support Ukraine, and at the same time, it will make the bloc lack the necessary consensus on important decisions in the coming period regarding the new administration in the US and regarding Russia.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/dong-thuan-nho-bat-dong-lon-185250324225551061.htm