Europe without Trump: Are we strong enough against Putin?

Europe without Trump: Are we strong enough against Putin?

Laimgrubengasse 10, 1060 Wien, Österreich - Today, on March 6, 2025, the tops of the EU member states come together to form a decisive special summit to ensure support for Ukraine in the face of a challenging situation. This is necessary, especially after US President Donald Trump has announced that the military aid to Ukraine immediately stops. Before the summit, the SPÖ delegation manager Andreas Schieder said that Europe must now show determination in order to counteract the security policy risk that is created by Trump's power game. Schieder warns: "In order to secure Ukraine's support against the Russian aggressor even without the United States, Europe must now act quickly and united," as the Europa-muss-ig-und- and

Europe faces the challenge

In this context, the question also asked whether Europe can exist against Putin without the support of the USA. Moritz Schularick, a leading economist, sees surprisingly positive answers to this question. According to Schularick, the European Union is economically strong enough to support Ukraine independently, even without the annual $ 21 billion military support from the United States. He explains that the EU's military contribution would be much lower in relation to its gross domestic product (GDP) than the costs of doing nothing, which are estimated at up to 1 to 2 percent of German GDP, to illustrate only a few of the potential consequences of a Russian victory over Ukraine, as the Luzerner Zeitung notes.

Schularick argues that Europe has more inhabitants and a stronger industrial basis than Russia, which means that EuroAe cohesion is crucial to ward off Russian aggression. "If Europe stands together, it is much stronger than Russia. It only needs political will," concludes Schularick. This shows that the upcoming summit is not only about the support of Ukraine, but also about the future of Europe's own security policy.