EU sending weapons to Ukraine: new unity?
The European Union has announced it will provide Ukraine with half a billion euros worth of weapons and equipment. Tough sanctions against Russia were adopted quickly and unanimously. Commentators are impressed by this unusually rapid and unified response.
Not at all like 1938
A new spirit is emerging, rejoices Corriere della Sera:
“Instead of adopting a policy of appeasement as they did towards Hitler in 1938, governments and public opinion in Europe are showing strength. They do not accept Moscow's violation of international and humanitarian law. Something surprising is happening in the Old Continent. We do not yet know how long it will take, or what the outcome will be. But with the huge crowds that have gathered at the Brandenburg Gate, where Europe was reunited on the rubble of the Berlin Wall 33 years ago, and on squares all over the continent, this could be the start of a new European history, in the knowledge that there is no peace without freedom and justice.”
No longer a geopolitical dwarf
The attack on Ukraine has achieved what Putin always tried to prevent, Seznam Zprávy notes:
“Europe is more united than it has ever been. Even Hungary's Viktor Orbán, who is on friendly terms with Putin, has raised his hand in favour of tough sanctions. With the decision to supply Ukraine with fighter jets, the EU is on its way to finally ridding itself of the derisive label of geopolitical dwarf that has been attached to it until now. ... Fortunately, even the Germans have changed their minds. ... And Václav Klaus and Marine Le Pen's dreams of the EU going back to being a purely economic union have been dashed, just like Russia's plans to conquer Ukraine within two days.”
Ukrainian flag flies in the hearts of Europeans
Writer Irene Lozano observes how the EU and Ukraine are moving closer together in eldiario.es:
“Putin's brutality is strengthening a common identity and action in the EU. Brussels is making decisions that unequivocally signify three major commitments: the first is the commitment to what is at stake: our values of democracy and freedom. The second, the commitment to those who embody these values right now: we have supplied arms to a third country for the first time in the history of the EU. The third is the commitment to exercise our economic power, even if this entails sacrifices. ... The EU flag flew over Maidan Square in 2014, telling us that the soul of Europe was at stake. Today the Ukrainian flag flies in the hearts of all Europeans.”