Couldn’t this also be European Citizens’ initiative, or whatever the formal petitions submitted to the EU are called?
I’m not sure a European Citizens’ initiative is really necessary here.
In the EU, the Commission has a monopoly on proposing legislation. So what often happens is simply that the Commission doesn’t propose something, which means that the Council and Parliament won’t get to vote on it. The European Citizens’ initiative serves as an alternative starting point, where European citizens can nudge the Commission into proposing legislation. It will not automatically lead to a proposal, but the Commission will have to explore it.
In this case, the Commission is already pretty busy trying to build a European defence, as they announced on Mastodon along with the worst graphical design possible. So the road block here is not going to be getting the attention of the Commission, but possibly the Council or Parliament.
I’m still angry that the tax the rich initiative failed to gather enough signatures. Grumble grumble.
Propably, But we’ve got What we’ve got
An appalling call to put Europe on a war footing.
Taking care of your defense is appalling? What’s the alternative? Stick our collective heads in the sand and hope no one will notice we exist?
Well you’re speaking like we aren’t already defended, and that’s not true. The EU plus Britain already spend 400 every year .
We will probably disagree on whether we’re defended enough. Is our defense budget sufficient to ensure that Russia won’t sweep through Europe without resistance? Sure. But the desired outcome is not to withstand the invasion further into Europe (at some point) but rather to:
- stop the already ongoing invasion into Ukraine
- prevent any further attempts to invade again
Without increasing our defense, we will always be at a risk that Russia will try to invade even if it would be fully aware that it couldn’t conquer the whole continent. They can always do what they’re doing right now:
- Depend on other allies to provide weapons/manpower
- Try to grab single country and hope that the rest of Europe consider it to be too big of a hassle to defend it
- Sow discord among Europeans and try to sway people by “rationally explaining” that “why should France invest in defense when they’re far far from potential front line?” (and similar)
We also need to admit, that our numbers spent on defense can’t be directly compared with Russia’s, because they are a single country. They have better control over their budget and over the control how and if the budget is spent. It’s a lot more complicated to get 100% of Europe on the same page when deciding how the money is spent.
The best way to avoid all of this is by making ourselves not worth attacking. And not just by Russia alone, but by Russia backed by their peers. Do you believe our current budget is sufficient for that?
There is no evidence of Russian ambition into Europe. So that would be a starting point. Then, I’d look at the peace that have been maintained on the continent for more or less 80 years. Established and maintained with free trade. Russia was happily selling oil and gas - and buying real estate and professional service in Europe. Germany believed in it so much, they built a crucial pipeline to seal the deal - to the annoyance of the USA.
In the issue of the Ukraine. Most people imagine the Ukraine as a united territory with a clear, defended border. This has never been the case. Eastern Ukraine has never been very loyal or obedient to the elites in western Ukraine. Eastern UKraine is Russian speaking , and has always overwhelmingly supported Russian leaning presidents - because if the deep cultural and economic ties that exist.
None of this is to diminish Russian aggression and illegal invasion of Ukrainian territory. However, it speaks to a localised dispute that everyone should surely work to diffuse, and not escalate.
In light of this, and in light of the mutual defence treatise and agreement that exist is Europe, and the fact the Britain and France have nuclear weapons - my answer is yes, Europe is sufficient defend.
I would further suggest, and you may not like it, that should Europe disentangle from the US (which is being discussed but i believe impossible ) - Europe would be even less of a target .
Europe should be working harder a peace, not at war, and I suggest that the boys of the internet calling for war, would feel very differently when the letter telling them to report the local military base arrived at their house.
