The European Parliament proposes to create a European Defense Union with the participation of Ukraine

05.10.2026, 11:38◉ 02 min readEditorial team “SHCHO STALOSIA”

A group of MEPs advocates the creation of a European Defence Union that would operate in close cooperation with NATO but allow Europe to defend itself autonomously. Ukraine should become an important part of this union. Ukrinform.

The European Parliament proposes to create a European Defense Union with the participation of Ukraine

This was stated by MEP Reinir van Lanshot, one of the authors of the idea, in an exclusive comment to Ukrinform.

According to him, Russia's aggressive war and the instability of US policy require Europe to be more independent in security matters.

"We came to the conclusion that in the context of Russia's fierce aggressive war and the unreliability of the United States, Europe should be able to defend itself on its own. We still believe that NATO has tremendous value, and we want to make the Alliance stronger. But to do that, we also need to make Europe capable of defending itself autonomously, ”van Lanshot said.

Van Lanshot paid special attention to the role of Ukraine in the future European security system, calling it a key partner and the strongest military force of the continent.

Details

“The European Defence Union can only function effectively if our most important partners - such as Norway, the United Kingdom and Ukraine - are involved. Ukraine has the strongest army in Europe today and is the most technologically advanced, "the MEP stressed.

Context

As reported, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during a speech on the state of affairs in the EU last month, said that Europe needed its own version of Article 4 of the NATO treaty for urgent consultations in case of a security threat a member state of the EU, as well as a new body - the European Security Council, which will include Ukraine.

What's next

The parliamentarian stressed that the new defense bloc would have the European Security Council as its main political body and should be fully integrated into the NATO structure ("separate, but not separate") in order to function within the Alliance, but be able to act autonomously if Article 5 of the NATO Treaty is not activated for some reason.