Fervent pro-EU politician Guy Verhofstadt advocated for a “real vision of Europe’s common defence” as tensions between the West and Russia remain high.
In a blistering social media message through which he shared a comment piece he penned, the Belgian liberal politician claimed Europe’s reaction to a more aggressive and authoritarian Russia “is so insufficient it’s irresponsible”.
In the post published on X, he added: “When will EU leaders finally develop a real vision of Europe’s common defence?”
In his op-ed, Mr Verhofstadt, a long-time proponent of a federal Europe, likened Vladimir Putin to Joseph Stalin and warned the Cold War in which the world has plunged once again may turn into an armed conflict at any moment.
He wrote in an article for French daily Le Monde: “Today, Stalin is back. Moscow is crushing dissent, invading its neighbours and dreaming of making history by brute force.
“The parallels between Putin and Stalin have been abundantly drawn. We are once again in a Cold War, which threatens to escalate at any moment.”
The Belgian MEP and former Prime Minister went on to criticise the bloc for not reacting as strongly as he believes it should in light of a similar threat.
He wrote: “At most, there is talk of an increase in military spending and the European integration of national defence industries. Worse still, we pretend to believe that the creation of a European defence commissioner should be enough to solve all the problems.
“If the Kremlin seems to be returning to the 1950s, the Berlaymont [the building where the European Commission has its headquarters in Brussels] still thinks it is in the 1990s.”
This is far from being the first time the MEP hit out at the European Union for its lack of a strong defence policy.
More than two decades ago, in November 2003, when he was Belgium’s Prime Minister, he said: “The EU, our Union, must be empowered by its constitution to develop a genuine and credible foreign policy based on our own European defence.
“However, we have seen how, at critical times, the European giant seems more like a firmly tied and bound Gulliver. Europe was paralysed when a horrible war broke out in the Balkans, right here on our continent.
“Europe did nothing to prevent or stop that war and, once again, the US had to intervene in a European war.”
More recently, during the State of the Union debate in September 2023, he said the a common defence policy needed to be more than an agreement on the production of ammunition for war-torn Ukraine.
Referring to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his criticism of NATO, he added: “Can you imagine if we are in the same situation, in a war with Ukraine, with Trump back as a president and without having the backing of NATO? So the European Defence Union is absolutely clear and necessary for the future.”
Mr Verhofstadt’s criticism against the European defence policy comes as many countries in the continent, and in particular NATO’s eastern flank, fear Putin may be eyeing up its next target as Russia is feared to be gaining the upper hand in Ukraine.
