Four years into the Ukraine war, is Europe ready for its own army?

Europe has struggled to unite in the face of the challenges posed by Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in the past four years.

The threat posed by Russia, and rising tensions with the United States under President Donald Trump, have fueled suggestions that the answer to Europe’s divisions, redundancies and duplications in its defense efforts lies in a single European army. The idea is as old as post-World War II European cooperation, but it has been the subject of intense debate in 2026.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Andrius Kubilius, the European Union’s commissioner for defense and space, told CNBC that the EU should consider creating a permanent military force of 100,000 troops, so it can “fight like Europe.”

His words come after Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albarez told Reuters that the continent should “focus on the proper integration of its defense industry,” arguing that “a joint effort will be more efficient than 27 separate national armies.”

But the EU’s Kaja Kallas warned that creating a Europe-wide army would be “very dangerous,” adding that his supporters “haven’t really thought about this in practice.” “If you are already part of NATO, you will not be able to create a separate army,” she said.

that analysis The Center for Strategic and International Studies report, published in February last year, urged European leaders to reopen discussions and claimed that increased spending should go hand in hand with the reform and integration of European defense forces.

“This is a big challenge because European militaries are not designed to work with each other. They are designed to work with the United States,” Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who wrote the report, told CNBC.

He said Europe’s response to any war would be “very chaotic.” He added that countries’ militaries operate different types of equipment and “spend a lot of money, but they don’t coordinate how that money is spent. There is a lot of redundancy and duplication, as well as inefficiency.”

In recent years, the European Commission has pledged to enhance competitiveness and innovation in the European defense industry. To address some of the shortcomings of the current system, the leaders also agreed to step up joint procurement efforts for ammunition, air and missile defence, as well as legacy systems, with a total budget of €310 million. [$364.8 million].

Some European leaders have suggested that Europe should focus on strengthening its position within NATO, rather than seeking to create an independent armed force.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb told CNBC at the World Economic Forum last month that the region’s defense capacity should be “used at the national level and in NATO, not as an EU army.”

“We need to strengthen the European pillar of NATO,” he said, adding: “We are doing two things: strengthening our defense industry… and on the other hand, increasing the capabilities of European countries.”

Some recent surveys suggest that the mood has changed since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago.

the European Union Barometer Survey It showed that support for a common EU defense and security policy has risen over the past decade. This percentage reached 76% in 2014 after Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula, then it reached 81% in the spring of 2025, which is the highest percentage since 2004.

When Europeans were asked whether they supported or opposed the creation of a regional army that would include forces from their country, 61% of Lithuanian respondents supported the idea, according to the poll. YouGov The survey was conducted in October of last year. In Germany, 59% of those surveyed supported the proposal, while in Spain, this figure reached 58%. More than half of those surveyed in Denmark (56%) and France (55%) also supported this proposal.

“Electorally, this is not a loser by any means,” Bergman told CNBC. “Some recent polls have shown that Europeans are very concerned about their security. They believe the possibility of war is very real… and they want a fairly radical change when it comes to defence.”

Some security experts doubt that the idea of ​​creating a sovereign European army will be accepted by voters, even in turbulent times.

Guntram Wolff, a senior fellow at Bruegel University who specializes in defense economics, as well as European rearmament, said the idea of ​​a sovereign European army is “quite unlikely, unless circumstances change dramatically.” He argues that citizens across Europe would prefer that their countries fulfill common defence.

“Citizens generally recognized that it would be more effective and less costly,” he told CNBC via email. “With the war against Ukraine and the fractured transatlantic relationship, European citizens have become more supportive of deeper European defense integration.”

Liana Fix, a senior fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations, warned that broader European defense cooperation is popular across Europe – but there are challenges.

“On the military side, the most important issues to be resolved are decision-making and European command structures. Until now, everyone still relies on NATO structures,” she said.

At the NATO summit in The Hague last year, member states He pledged to boost defense spending To achieve a new target of 5% of GDP, after pressure from Trump.

Spain was the only member Subscription has been cancelled Of the pledge. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the country would set its military budget at an “adequate and realistic” level of just over 2% of GDP.

In an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum, Spain’s Economy Minister, Carlos Cuerbo, said the country needs to make “optimal use” of its money “in terms of strengthening our military, our defense industry and our sovereignty in the field of defense and security.”

He added, “Spain will do its utmost to fulfill its obligations within the framework of strengthening NATO’s capabilities… We will be a reliable partner within NATO as we have always been.”