The President of the European People's Party (EPP) and Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, stated this Wednesday in Brussels at the Forum Europa that sending "peacekeeping troops" to Ukraine could be the "starting point" for a "European Army" once an agreement is reached to end the war in that country.
Weber made these remarks while participating in an information session organised by New Economy Forum in the EU capital, where the European leader was introduced by Dolors Montserrat, Secretary General of the EPP.
Regarding Ukraine, he stated that "nobody knows" if Russia will attack NATO territory in the future and that in today's world, "it is not unthinkable". Therefore, he defended the need to move towards a "European Army", something for which he believes sending "peacekeeping troops" to Ukraine once an agreement is reached to end the war there could be a "starting point".
He maintained that "if we truly enter a phase of peace in Ukraine", its citizens must be given "the assurance that we support this peace agreement, that Putin will not return to war after a few years", and argued that "these troops should no longer be German-French troops".
TROOPS WITH THE EUROPEAN FLAG
The European leader expressed his hope that "the moment" will come when troops in Ukraine "wear a European flag on their uniforms", which he described as "a dream to demonstrate that together, we are there, alongside our friends in Ukraine, to defend freedom and democracy together".
He also warned that "all the experts tell us that by 2030, at the end of this decade, Russia will be capable, ready, technologically and militarily speaking, to attack even NATO territory, European territory", which justifies the need to prepare for this scenario.
Furthermore, he alluded to the political situation in some European countries and warned that the 2027 French presidential and Polish parliamentary elections are "two very important elections" because "if these two elections go in the wrong direction, from my point of view, then the face of Europe will fundamentally change".
Weber posed a hypothetical scenario in which "if a nationalist candidate were to win in France", he could say, "as commander-in-chief of the army: I no longer see Lithuania or Estonia as an area I must commit to protecting, just as US President Donald Trump did a year ago". In his view, this would leave "Poland, Germany, Finland, Romania, and a few others alone against Putin".
FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE
Regarding support for Ukraine, the European leader emphasised that "following the approval now in the European Parliament, the commitment is clear: we Europeans stand with Kyiv". He stressed that "it is in our deep interest to stabilize" the country because if it were to "collapse" due to financial problems, "you can imagine what this would mean for migration" to the EU.
Weber noted that "more than 500,000 people have left the Ukrainian capital in the meantime because there is no electricity" and that "it is an extremely cold winter in Ukraine", so he defended the need to "send this signal of solidarity, at least with the financial tools we have".
The EPP chairman also noted that for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, "it is truly impossible to ask in a referendum" about relinquishing territory "because the Ukrainian Constitution is clear" on the matter, but indicated that "if he could combine that part of a peace agreement with a clear message that he can join the European Union, then it could be a kind of selling point for Ukraine".
Weber concluded by arguing that EU enlargement to include Ukraine, Moldova, and the Western Balkans is necessary and recalled that "the last 20 years have been fantastic economically for many people within the EU" following the accession of Eastern European countries, so "we should believe in the ideas of our founding fathers".
