Is Putin's invasion of Ukraine an accelerator for EU defense?
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed European countries to make historic foreign and defense policy moves, and it appears that the political will for a common European approach on this front, elusive for decades, is forming. For the first time the EU is financing the purchase and delivery of weapons to Ukraine, a country at war, while Germany reversed its historic policy against sending arms to conflict zones and doubled its defense budget with a 100 billion euro increase in spending. These moves are in addition to the imposition of tough sanctions on Russia. George Pagoulatos joins our host Thanos Davelis to look at how Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has been an accelerator for European unity on foreign and defense policy.
George Pagoulatos is the Director General of ELIAMEP, the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, is Professor of European Politics and Economy at the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe.
Read George Pagoulatos's latest op-ed in Kathimerini: From 1992 to 2022: EU still seeking common foreign and defense policy
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