EU Defense commissioner Andrius Kubilius on Sunday floated the idea of creating a “powerful, standing ‘European military force’ of 100,000 troops,” lending his voice to a growing chorus of calls for a common continental defense as Russia threatens its neighbors.
“How will we replace the 100,000-strong American standing military force, which is the back-bone military force in Europe?” the former Lithuanian prime minister asked in a speech in Sweden.
Europe has been scrambling to fill a growing military void left by a slowly receding American military commitment to the continent’s defense. US President Donald Trump has demanded a greater NATO contribution from member countries, and has even threatened the Alliance’s continued existence with his rhetoric about invading Greenland, owned by ally Denmark.
But increased calls for a common EU military force have only grown since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, and the Kremlin’s menacing rhetoric about retaliation on Kyiv’s Western allies, as well as regularly violating NATO airspace and sending drones well past Ukraine’s western border.
While many individual EU members have been skeptical about turning over control to Brussels of a portion of their armed forces and weapons, there is a growing international consensus that this might be necessary given he policy aims of both Moscow and Washington.
In February of last year, for example, the Center for Strategic International Studies wrote: “The major problem with a European army is that while it makes sense in principle, it was not seen as practical. Yet, Europe defending itself as 25 or more distinct nations without the United States neither makes sense nor is it practical either. It is thus time for Europe to seriously revisit the concept.”
Kubilius was speaking at the Folk och Försvar (“People and Defense”) Annual Conference in Sälen, where he Swedish government announced that it was investing $1.6 billion in air defenses, including IRIS-T surface-to-air short-range missiles, singling out Russian belligerence as the driving factor.
“With this broad investment in air defense, we are protecting the whole of society, from our military units to urban areas and critical infrastructure,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said.
At the conference, Kubilius also laid out the case for the creation of a “European Security Council” that “could be composed of key permanent members, along with several rotational members.”
“In total, around 10 to 12 members,” he continued, “with the task to discuss the most important issues in defense,” adding that the power exerted by this type of unified voice could help tip the scales in Ukraine’s defense as it tries to hold off the Russian invasion.
“We need to have a clear answer: How is the EU going to change that scenario?” Kubilius said.
“This is the reason why we need to have a European Security Council now!”