The tumultuous start to 2026 should force a reckoning in Brussels and European capitals, and a recognition of the power the EU can exert
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nother week, another set of dilemmas for Europe’s beleaguered political class to deal with. On Wednesday Brussels is due to outline the terms of the €90bn loan it has promised to Ukraine, amid internal tensions over whether Kyiv can use the money to buy US as well as EU weapons. On the same day, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is due to meet ministers from Denmark and Greenland, as Donald Trump continues to insist that the US will take ownership of the latter “one way or another”. And as the body count of protesters rises in Iran, the EU is under mounting pressure to do more than merely “monitor” the situation, as the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, somewhat feebly put it over the weekend.
Beyond the crisis management, a deeper reckoning is overdue after a tumultuous beginning to 2026. It has long been a truism that there is a profound mismatch between the EU’s economic heft and its geopolitical clout. But only a year into Mr Trump’s second term, the disjunction looks unsustainable in the “America first” era.
As the US president has thrown his weight around across the globe, EU leaders have trailed in the slipstream of events, seeking to mollify and appease Mr Trump in order to preserve what is left of the transatlantic alliance. Given the pivotal importance of the US in guaranteeing Ukraine’s future security, this has perhaps been an understandable strategy of mitigation. But if the EU is to properly assert and protect itself, and project its values in a menacing multipolar world, it needs to start acting with the self-confidence and clarity that should come naturally to an economic superpower whose GDP dwarfs that of Russia.
