Trump, the former ** of the United States, recently left a remark to encourage Russia to attack those NATO members who "refuse to spend on defense"; This incident made many European allies numb, and it was described as "daddy selling his cub's life is not distressed".
In response to Trump's remarks, coupled with the fact that the election is going well and the possibility of returning to the White House is very likely, Europe has begun to "unite" and call for the strengthening of mutual defense capabilities. The foreign ministers of France, Germany, and Poland recently met to discuss improving Europe's defense capabilities, and they all believed that neither the United States nor NATO can be trusted, and Europe will not be able to build a credible security capability, "now it can only rely on itself."
Since Brexit, the defense of Europe has fallen on the heads of a few "military powers", and it is reasonable to pull Poland in: Ukraine has been beaten like this, the hundreds of thousands of mechanized troops before 2022 are gone, the military industrial system has been smashed, and it has long lost its role as a barrier, and Poland has of course become the first line.
Poland purchased a large amount of first-class equipment last year, including F-35 fighter jets and "Hymars" rocket launchers from the United States, and main battle tanks, self-propelled artillery and infantry combat vehicles from South Korea, which has the ambition of becoming "the first military power in Europe"; France and Germany pulled Poland, of course, unwilling to give up this "best cannon fodder" candidate.
But the question is, does Europe really need to be so unfounded? In fact, if Europe wants to be safe, the way is very simple: to give Russia enough security. Seriously, Russia is not the Soviet Union, it has long not had the ambition and ability to "push the English Channel in a week", even Ukraine, Russia does not have the ability to swallow it in one bite, and now it can only grind slowly, and it is not easy to stabilize the east bank of the Dnieper.
So does Europe need to guard against Russia? There is really no need for this, as long as Britain and the United States don't let such "-stirring stick" countries mess up the geopolitical pattern, Europe can be a "happy house" and live a stable life; The real threat to Europe is actually the hegemonic countries that put the whole of Europe on the brink of conflict and war for their own selfish interests.
So what Europe needs to be afraid of is not Russia but the United States, not that the United States will no longer protect Europe, but that it should be afraid that the United States will provoke a new war in Europe.
The top priority for the old European powers, such as France and Germany, is not to establish the so-called "new common defense mechanism", that is, the legendary Eurocorps, but how to ensure the independence of Europe, get rid of the geostrategic influence of the United States, and learn to think about their own interests.
Think about it, who is the beneficiary of the Russia-Ukraine conflict? Certainly not Ukraine and the EU, Russia got the land and population, the United States got the hegemonic benefits, Ukraine, although it lost a lot, got "international influence", China got a big market of almost 200 million people - only the world line of the EU's wounded was reached.
Affected by the conflict, the German economy has entered a recession, France's global influence is also declining, the whole of Europe is becoming less and less "respected", and developing countries have begun to use the West as a negative teaching material; Did the Russians give all this? Not! German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was privately ridiculed by his subordinates as "Americans' pet dogs", which was not sent by the Russians, but by the EU countries!
For a country, independence is a scarce resource, but Europe does not have it; The most important thing is that Europe lacks not only independence, but also the basis of strength: the whole of Europe produces only 300,000 shells a year, and Russia produces 1.8 million in a month; The ** provided to Ukraine has been "knocked on the sand can" by others, and with such ability, he also wants to establish a "common defense mechanism", to put it bluntly, people are addicted to vegetables and like waves.
That's it, the EU countries still want to open some. The international order is a game for adults, and a group of giant babies should not come to join in the fun. It is much more realistic to think about how to give Russia a sense of security than to find it yourself!