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Poland’s Sikorski questions value of “security guarantees” for Ukraine, urges focus on funding and arms
Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, has questioned the usefulness of proposed “security guarantees” for Ukraine, arguing that such pledges would lack credibility without states willing to fight Russia if deterrence failed. Speaking at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) annual meeting…
NATO’s Expenditure Awakening: Europe’s Defence Renaissance, Not Just a Relay Race
There was a time—in the not-so-distant past—when NATO’s annual defence expenditure reports were greeted as regrettable necessities. Europe, it seemed, had other priorities: climate ambitions, social welfare, diplomatic fatigue, and the belief that security would always be outsourced across the…
Europe Braces for Trump’s Troop Gamble, and the Bill That Comes With It
As NATO allies tally up their defence budgets and contingency planners dust off maps of Europe’s eastern flank, one question now looms above all: how far is President Donald Trump prepared to go in scaling back America’s military footprint on…
The EU’s Defence Union Dream May Not Survive Its’ First Clash With Reality
The European Union’s bureaucrats are once again dreaming imperial dreams. This time, it is not a federal treasury, a pan-continental digital currency, or another ill-fated push for “strategic autonomy”—but a “single market for defence”. At the heart of this latest…
Europe at the Brink: Are the EU’s 27 Member States Ready for War?
It is the kind of question that used to be whispered in think tanks and war colleges—an abstract exercise for Europe’s policymakers and generals. Now it is being asked aloud in parliaments, defence ministries, and increasingly anxious households from Vilnius…
France Urges Strategic Overhaul as Hybrid Threats and Geopolitical Rivalries Challenge Europe’s Security Architecture
France has issued a forceful call for a redefinition of European security priorities in its newly released National Strategic Review 2025, warning that the continent stands at a critical juncture. The report, published on 13 July by the General Secretariat…
A Drone Surge Could Tilt the Balance in Ukraine’s War Against Russia
A large-scale Western-funded expansion of Ukraine’s drone capabilities could decisively alter the course of Russia’s invasion, according to a new analysis by Atlantic Council senior fellow Mark Boris Andrijanič. Writing for the Washington-based think tank, Andrijanič argues that investment in…
SAFE: Europe’s €150bn defence loan fund is a desperate bid to paper over years of military neglect
The European Union’s decision to launch a €150 billion defence loan instrument – dubbed “SAFE” – marks a dramatic departure from decades of post-Cold War complacency. But make no mistake: this is not a show of strength. It is a…
Britain and France Lock Shields: A Revived Entente to Deter the Rising Storm.
In an era marked by sharpening threats and resurgent great power competition, Britain and France are once again looking to the future—shoulder to shoulder, missile to missile. Today’s refreshed defence agreement between London and Paris is more than a procurement…
NATO’s Hard-Won Awakening: How the Alliance Is Turning Russia’s Brutality Into Its Own Strategic Advantage
The war in Ukraine, now grinding through its third gruelling year, has become not merely a tragedy for Eastern Europe, but for NATO planners it is an open-air laboratory for modern warfare. From the rubble of Mariupol to the blackened…