In the slow-motion saga over Russian frozen assets, “rationality should prevail,” said Andrius Kubilius, the European Commissioner for defence, urging reluctant member states to set aside their concerns and confiscate Russian funds to urgently replenish Ukraine’s coffers.
In a recent interview with The Parliament, Kubilius, the EU’s first-ever defence czar and a former Lithuanian prime minister, warned that failing to do so would shift the burden onto European taxpayers and weaken the continent’s security.
“We need to understand how important it is for us to support Ukraine,” said Kubilius, noting that Ukrainians are effectively buying time for Europe to build its own defence capabilities against the threat of Russian aggression.
In late October, Belgium blocked a plan to tap €140 billion in Russian frozen assets parked in the country, arguing the move could trigger lawsuits, retaliation from Moscow and damage the reputation of Brussels-based clearing house Euroclear. Belgium said it would only back the scheme if other EU countries shared the risks — a condition other capitals have so far refused.
That decision, taken at the last European summit, has stalled what had been seen as the EU’s most straightforward funding option for Ukraine.
“It's absolutely clear that Ukrainian capabilities to defend itself depend on our support,” Kubilius said, asking: “So if we are not able to support [them], then what?”
The EU has already funneled approximately €173.5 billion in financial, military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, according to recent European Commission data. That makes European aid larger overall than that of the US, though Washington still leads in direct military support.
Yet Ukraine remains in desperate need of more, with analysts estimating that as much as €85 billion per year is required to sustain its defence and reconstruction efforts.
To break the impasse, Brussels has floated joint European borrowing, or Eurobonds, as an alternative. But few countries support a plan that would effectively commit taxpayer money amid ballooning deficits and rising defence costs.
A more European NATO
The 68-year-old Commissioner said he was unaware of Washington’s recent decision to withdraw troops from Romania but was not surprised, calling it consistent with the shifting priorities of the US administration under President Donald Trump.
Last week, Romania's defence ministry confirmed the US plans to reduce its 1,700 troops stationed on NATO's eastern flank to between 900 and 1,000. “I understand that we are reacting emotionally and that we consider an American presence on the European continent very important.” “But,” he said, “we also need to understand that the situation is changing — and not because Americans do not love Europe anymore — but because challenges in the Indo-Pacific are becoming bigger and bigger.”
For Kubilius, there’s no alternative but for Europeans to “be ready to take that responsibility more and more on our shoulders.” Trump’s return to the White House earlier this year has once again put Europe on notice — accused by Washington, and especially Trump’s MAGA allies — of getting a “free lunch” from American defence guarantees. In response, European countries have agreed to up collective defence spending to 5% by 2032 — a move that would have once been unthinkable for a continent that has struggled to reach even 2%.
The US drawdown comes at a perilous moment for Europe, amid a wave of provocations — spanning from airspace violations and drone incursions to hybrid warfare tactics by Russia and Belarus — stress testing NATO’s article 5 guarantee.
But it is precisely this gravity, Kubilius told The Parliament, that should drive EU states to deepen coordination beyond the bloc.
“A very rational question now,” he said, would be “how we can find a way to combine our defence capabilities [with] Ukraine defence capabilities,” adding that it would be a “mistake not to integrate this kind of battle-tested military resources.”
To read The Parliament's full interview with Andrius Kubilius, be sure to check out our December policy report on defence.
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