Lisa Haseldine Lisa Haseldine

Will the EU ever get tough on defence?

European Council President Antonio Costa, Ursula von der Leyen and Volodymyr Zelensky (Credit: Getty images)

European leaders are in Brussels today for an emergency summit on defence, and the future of both Ukraine and the continent. In a further attempt to hash out a peace plan for Ukraine, the 27 EU heads of state are joined by Volodymyr Zelensky. Arriving this morning, Zelensky declared, ‘It’s great we are not alone’.

As part of today’s agenda, members of the bloc are expected to endorse Ursula von der Leyen’s ReArm Europe plan – which will make €150 billion (£125 billion) available in loans for members to boost defence spending. The summit will also likely discuss French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to extend his country’s ‘nuclear umbrella’ to its continental neighbours.

EU leaders are talking about today’s meeting as the moment that everything changes

EU heads are clearly treating today’s gathering as a crucial opportunity to wrest control of the continent’s future away from America and Russia. Fresh from an address to the nation last night in which he called

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