Statement EES President Dr Ingo Friedrich, January 26th, 2024

Now, at the latest, after Trump’s successes in the US primaries, Putin’s aggression and China’s growing influence, the question of Europe’s existence has arisen in a new Form: Can Europe Cope with acute, dramatic challenges or does it need a fundamental restart?

The answer is clear: Yes, a restart is needed in politics, institutions, especially military strategy, and economic policy, in order to make Europe a core factor in world politics – a “global player”. The offensive, sometimes even aggressive behaviour of China and Russia and the feared departure of the USA from Europe under Trump forces Europe to completely reposition itself. Europe’s current weakness, particularly militarily, can become life-threatening in today’s world situation. What would happen if Putin attacked a Baltic country? Would Trump then defend Europe with American soldiers? Unfortunately, there is no longer a guarantee for this.

Europe must therefore in particular pool its military forces – within NATO of course – and e.g. by building a common European aircraft carrier send a globally unmistakable message: Europe is a force to be reckoned with, Europe must be taken seriously.  Unfortunately, the world is not as peaceful and rational as some peace idealists like to dream up. If we want to secure our European peace, we must be prepared to do more than we have done so far.