R3new: Strengthening and Democratising Europe’s Defense Policy

Global events once again confirm the need for a strong and cooperative security
policy.

Unfortunately, soft, democratic policies have not worked, as a result of which
we have in recent years seen armed aggressions, acts of terrorism, and the
outbreak of full-scale war in Europe.

This once again underlines the need for a clear response and solidarity on the
issue of collective security and peace, for strengthening the Eastern flank of
NATO at this moment, and also starting developing a strong common European
defense capacity.

For years the Baltic States and Poland have raised their concerns about a
potential Russian invasion, which were mostly ignored and dismissed as paranoia.
After the terroristic and fascist Russian regime, led by Vladimir Putin, annexed
Crimea and the de facto occupation of the Donbas and Luhansk regions in 2014,
the Baltic States and Poland increased their military spending to at least 2% of
the GDP. This was not followed by the rest of the NATO member states. This left
Baltic States and Poland feeling isolated and alone in managing their defense.
Unfortunately NATO was the only viable defense mechanism available to these
countries. We need to show true European solidarity and support Eastern European
countries in their need for safety.

Moreover, FYEG understands Finland and Sweden’s wishes to join NATO, as that
will make the Baltic Sea region safer and condemn any obstruction and
manipulation by others in realizing the right of these countries to join the
alliance.

While Western countries continued flirting with Vladimir Putin just to continue
importing Russian fossil fuels, those countries which had previously been
exposed to the horrors of Russian imperialism, started preparing for the worst,
while continuing to support Ukraine from Russia's war against them.

Moreover, Germany kept building the Nord Stream 2 fossil gas pipeline from
Russia to Germany, while Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic States were opposed to
it due to increased Russian influence. The partial Russian occupation of Ukraine
had almost completely disappeared from the public eye until Russia started yet
another invasion in early 2022.

Furthermore, many member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
and member states of the European Union (EU) continued to export their weapons
to Russia after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. Germany and France
exported weapons worth more than 270 million euros. France's exports to Russia
even increased significantly in 2015, a year after Russia annexed the Crimea
peninsula. Czechia, Bulgaria, Italy, Slovakia, Finland, Spain, and Croatia also
continued to export weapons, spare parts, and vehicles to the Russian military.

The Ukrainian resistance held up against the relentless terroristic onslaught of
Russian occupiers. Despite Ukraine’s heroic resistance, without the influx of
new weaponry, Ukraine cannot hold. It is thus necessary that Ukraine will be
supplied with weapons to continue its counter-offensives against the Russian war
criminals.

The Baltic States and Poland have been the biggest supporters of Ukraine during
this invasion.Estonia has provided Ukraine military support of about 0.8% of
their GDP, Latvia 0.7%, Poland 0.2%, and Lithuania – 0.1%, while Germany has
given only 0.01% of their GDP in military aid. These discrepancies in the
support for Ukraine standing up against the Russian invasion are worrying and
are an expression of lacking European solidarity.

In order to strengthen European solidarity and with the aim to build European
defense capacities, in particular to protect Eastern European countries against
aggressions of the Russian Federation, FYEG calls to urgently build a strong and
resilient European Defense Mechanism. It would be articulated by strengthening
the cooperation between military forces of European countries and by providing
defense support to the countries exposed to the most immediate threats.

Given the atrocities committed by forces under NATO command in the past, the
reliance on NATO of some European countries for their defense is not
sustainable, yet we acknowledge the current dependence on NATO as a defense
mechanism for the countries most threatened by Russian aggression.

FYEG therefore demands that the European defense mechanism is set up as quickly
as possible as an alternative defense solution to the NATO. Whereas the EU could
play an essential role, it is vital that this mechanism is not limited to EU
member states, but is open to every European country except for the Russian
Federation.

The lack of a collective regulatory mechanism has allowed individual NATO
members to exploit the alliance for their own interests, which in turn has
resulted in criminal actions in the Middle East and other counties. Now this has
led to weak support for Ukraine, provoking a difficult political and security
situation for countries in Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and the Nordic
countries, which are close to Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

We acknowledge there is a need in NATO for fair regulatory mechanisms that
prevents the USA or any other single country from taking one-sided decisions as
well as ensuring democratic ways of resolving internal problems and conflicts.
At the same time we demand the creation of a strong institution in the future
European defense mechanism that focuses exclusively on conflict prevention and
resolution as well as ensuring peace and global security.

We believe that a strong structure and regulatory mechanisms will also enable us
to control the level of militarization of countries and avoid subsequent wars
and armed conflicts. One of the core values of the Greens is non-violence, so we
believe that with the great threat of aggression from a Russian (or any other)
imperialist government, we must first defend peace in all countries.