ReArm Europe: the shadow grows, and it’s time to defend

It took Ursula von der Leyen just six and a half minutes on March 4 to announce the ReArm Europe plan[1]. A record time to deliver a categorical message: the time has come to defend.

Europe is tired of drafting defence strategies that never translate into action, of planting trees at climate summits, and funding digital resilience workshops. For years, it has relied on diplomacy and regulation as its strongest card, convinced that stability was almost unshakable. But the world has changed. For the first time, the EU seems ready to act and to play on the global stage with more than just good intentions. The question is: this time, is it for real?

Why now?

Not everything can be resolved with diplomacy. Europe has understood that there is no longer space for conciliatory tones in the face of the threats looming over it. Democracy is a system built on dissent, social pressure, agreements, and disagreements. But also, on its capacity to resist attacks and defend itself.Last Tuesday, the EU took a significant step toward strengthening its defence, driven by a combination of geopolitical and strategic factors that have redefined the continent’s security landscape. At the heart of this transformation lie Russia’s invasion and the war in Ukraine, along with the shift in U.S. foreign policy under Donald Trump. This is, openly, a prelude to a wartime scenario. And in today’s climate, potential victims are called to protect themselves. Europe no longer has time for measured analyses or statements of good intent. What matters now are decisions, transformations, and concrete moves. The shift has already begun. The only question that remains is whether it will be enough to meet the moment.

The major crossroads – Europe’s structural defence gap

Europe no longer wants to be a global actor relying on persuasion and cooperation while others wield coercion. For decades, it trusted in diplomacy, summits, and its negotiating power, convinced that soft power would be enough to contain threats. But the risk map has changed, and Brussels knows it. Now, it’s moving away from the rhetoric of consensus and preparing for something different: to defend itself with action, not just words. Aware of its Achilles heel, a structural defence deficit that has left it exposed, the EU is heading toward a radical transformation.  While awaiting the imminent White Paper on the Future of European Defence[2], von der Leyen has laid the groundwork for this shift. The formula? Increased military spending, suspended fiscal rules, and a round of joint defence loans to fast-track the acquisition of pan-European defence capabilities. The age of strategic pacifism is coming to an end.

What does ReArm Europe entail?

Europe once presented itself as a peace project, or at least that was the dominant narrative. Absorbed in its debates, perhaps too busy managing other agendas, something shifted. Now, Brussels looks up and sees not stability, but a brutal threat. A world in which strategic pacifism is no longer sufficient, and where relying on external allies has become a vulnerability. This is a long-distance race. Amid a hostile geopolitical regime, it is impossible to separate rhetoric from action, diplomacy from rearmament, peace from power. Between the lines of official speeches, the EU is walking toward a point of no return. Whether it’s already too late remains to be seen. In this era of media noise, the message from the President of the European Commission must be understood, not from the lens of apocalyptic scenarios, but from the political circumstances that have made security the new language of Brussels.

Can Europe defend itself without losing its identity?

Europe is determined to face, with openly disruptive measures, the new wave of aggression and threats against its rights. This process does not mean replicating the hatred it has received but defending itself in just proportion. Yet to do this, Europe must do the unthinkable: reinforce its defence capabilities, mobilise its arsenals, and accept that security is now a central part of its identity. The European Union’s evolving stance on security has been the subject of growing debate across think tanks and policy circles [3]. The challenge is clear: can it protect itself without betraying its pacifist essence? Or, to paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars, is it doomed to become what it once swore to destroy?

The ReArm Europe plan carries a built-in contradiction—a dissonance that will not be resolved with optimistic thinking, but with nuance unless Europe is content to open yet another chapter in its already extensive record of contradictions.For decades, the European Union has defined itself as  a peace project. ReArm Europe marks a turning point. This is not just a matter of military spending or strategic alliances. It is a change in the European mindset. The question is no longer whether Europe should defend itself, but how to do so without betraying what it stands for.

Reducing the plan to a simple defence package is to miss the point entirely. This is not just a defence budget, it is a statement of intent and a highly concentrated dose of reality. Turbulent times lie ahead. And the real challenge will not only be shielding itself from external threats but defining how far Europe is willing to go without losing its reason for being.

Minerva Cano Domínguez 06/03/2025

[1] European Commission. (2024). State of the Union 2024 – Speech by President von der Leyen. Available at: https://state-of-the-union.ec.europa.e

[2] European Commission. (2024). Towards a European Defence Union – White Paper Preview. Brussels: DG DEFIS. Available at: https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu

[3] Bruegel. (2024). Can Europe Defend Itself Without Losing Its Soul? Strategic Autonomy and the Future of the EU. Available at: https://www.bruegel.org