JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s European allies are either broke, small or irresolute; In search of the perfect partner to derail Russian aggression” – The Economist
“… Europeans should be in a position to deliver more than enough support to Ukraine. The 30 European countries that belong to NATO have, taken together, the world’s second-biggest military budget (exceeded only by America’s), vastly outspending Russia. Their economy is bigger than America’s. … [A]cross the continent the desire for Ukraine to prevail is strong. The realisation that … Putin would be unlikely to be satisfied with invading just one neighbour is chilling. … [T]he attributes needed in a good ally are unevenly spread. Most of Ukraine’s most vocal backers are also the bloc’s smallest countries, whether Baltic or Nordic. … If some countries are short on size and others on either money or ambition, why not join forces? … A better idea, floated by Estonia and now backed by [] Macron, might be for the EU to jointly borrow €100bn that would go towards bolstering the bloc’s defence … a repeat of the pandemic-busting Next Generation EU fund …. Such a scheme could turn the EU into, in effect, a single large, solvent and potentially ambitious ally for Ukraine. …”