Europeans have had a rough few years – and New Year’s Eve promised little relief as Russia continues shelling Ukraine, fresh acts of sabotage are carried out on subsea cables, and Washington leans further away from its longstanding EU allies.
As the bloc is squeezed on various fronts, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called the present moment an “epochal shift” – suggesting that future history books will see 2025 as the start of a new chapter in European affairs.
From Paris to Warsaw, the bloc’s leaders put on a brave face in their end-of-year addresses, trying to balance honesty about the scale of the challenges facing Europe while also projecting strength through unity.
“A terrible war is raging,” Merz warned in his first year-end address. “Russia’s aggression was and is part of a plan targeted against the whole of Europe. Germany is also facing sabotage, espionage and cyberattacks on a daily basis.”
France’s president Emmanuel Macron spoke of a darkening zeitgeist marked by “the return of empires, the erosion of the international order, a world of trade wars … and growing instability.”
“Peace costs, but war always costs more,” said Poland’s president Karol Nawrocki, urging his NATO and European allies to hold steadfast both in the economic and military sense.
But the token optimism did not conceal the dark clouds gathering on Europe’s horizons. Stuck between Washington and the Kremlin while Beijing is moving openly on Taiwan, EU leaders are bracing for another difficult year. “Our partnership with the USA, which has long been the reliable guarantor of our security, is changing,” Merz conceded.
Not to be overcome with defeatism on what is traditionally an evening of celebration, Germany’s leader stressed: “We are not at the mercy of great powers.”
How long can the linking of arms last, however? With Macron’s political career on its last legs, he urged his compatriots to “hold fast to what we cherish – humanity, peace and freedom.”
The beleaguered French president vowed vigilance against foreign interference in the run-up to the polls. He stands to be replaced by parties that think neither NATO nor the EU should exist.
North-South divide
Meanwhile, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez refrained from grand proclamations about the bloc’s military struggles and instead focused on defending his track record amid mounting allegations of corruption against his inner circle.
“This government has improved your life month after month. Spain is growing like never before,” Sánchez said. He dismissed calls for snap elections from opposition leaders – and even within his own left-wing coalition – and stressed that in 2026 the government “will continue to work tirelessly”.
In Italy, barred-from-retirement President Sergio Mattarella, aged 84, urged his countrymen to cherish the country founded just 80 years ago.
With over 440,000 people aged 18-34 having left the country in the last 15 years, he called on young people to “feel responsible, like the generation that built modern Italy eighty years ago”.
After all, Europe’s ability to defend itself is ultimately tied to the strength of its economy, the Germans warn – tying a red tape bonfire, lower taxes and cheap energy to the bloc’s strength of arms.
“Our country’s strength likewise depends to a large extent on our economic output,” Merz said. “We are therefore relieving the burden on them with respect to taxes, energy prices and red tape.”
See the original of this report for Euractiv here.