"[Putin] does not stop stressing what he's really longing for, like, a renaissance of the Soviet empire," Pistorius said of Putin. "He wants to be the dominant power in Europe. [...]"
Germany's biggest defense contractor, Rheinmetall, and its subsidiaries have won a commanding share of recent government contracts.
Rheinmetall was one of Germany's major arms producers during WWI and WWII.
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that is predicated on complete nonsense, why would the europeans do a war if the US told them not to? why would Russia engage in such a war?
European politicians openly recognise that the relationship between the EU and the US is adversarial now.
A significant split is occurring and EU wants to go its own way. I've been saying for months now that this was coming, that these people were saying this behind closed doors over a year ago, now it is moving into public.
The Europeans are pissy about Trump treating them as bad as other American vassals but they do not want to go their own way, they simply want to go back to the halcyon days of polite liberal harmony right before Trump was elected.
I would find it easier to believe in the European elite's desire for increased autonomy if all of that military spending went to domestic or third country arms manufacturers but as long as the money is shipped to American and "Israeli" arms manufacturers it is a tribute that reaffirms European subservience to Washington.
Even if European rulers wanted autonomy they would not be able to have it. Europe has made itself too dependent on America, not just in military matters but also in everything from financial systems, IT infrastructure and energy supply to culture and ideology.
That ”buy European” shit is so funny. What do you think is going to have more of a geopolitical impact, some people deciding to BuY EuRoPeAn, or most European countries agreeing to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP because of NATO?
Besides, we saw some of this during Trump's first term (and Bush's time in office too), when a respectable adult
was in office again, all the US criticism evaporated.
The buy European shit is a way western Europeans can be racist to everyone else without being "barbaric racists, like the rural and urban poors" it's just white nationalism with a thick coat of 2016 liberalism
The problem with buy European is what? Europe doesn't produce a stealth fighter like the F-35 currently. As for air defence, SAMP/T's Aster 30 series interceptors are adequate for defence against ballistic missiles, but the radar is inadequate, so Europe has to wait for SAMP/T NG to match PATRIOT PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE. Air defence against longer range ballistics like Oreshnik, only the US and Israel in the western sphere of influence make systems for that, and Germany has bought the Israeli Arrow 3 because it's cheaper than AEGIS ashore. Europe is not going to buy Chinese weapons for the most part. I guess the plan is to buy US weapons until the European equivalents are online, but that's going to take a decade minimum.
the only reason European "interests" are in defending an ever eastward 'front' against Russia are because of the US! if the EU was actually interested in pursuing an independent path they'd start by investigating and rectifying nordstream.
it's all bluster and kayfabe from a euro ruling class utterly inextricable from US dominance.
Talking about rebuilding nordstream is a non-starter until the war is over. You can't construct a pipeline during a war.
But the European ruling class don't want to end the war, they want to extend it for the sake of American interests
What do you mean by "end the war"? Remove support for Ukraine so they are defeated?
They could have reached a ceasefire years ago but borris johnson made sure that didn't happen
In 2022 borris Johnson went to Ukraine and talked zelensky out of taking it
Is it real or is it just bluster because Trump is unpopular among the European electorate? I seem to remember them making similar noises when the tariffs came in and then quietly completely capitulating
It's real in that they do not want to be US vassals. It's popular because of Trump. It's not going to be quick or easy though with how reliant upon the US militarily. The push to build a bigger EU military is not because they believe in war with Russia being likely, it is because they recognise how much it fucked them, the US bombed nordstream and the EU just had to take it because they had no choice. It was either pander to the US or suffer economic ruin without oil and gas that is now shipped via boats from the US.
European liberal leaders aren't actually adversarial to trump.
They only pretend to be for their population.
Behind closed doors they're 100% doing everything he asks and is sucking him off
They all instantly bent over when Trump told them to buy more American arms and cut their social welfare for if
I don't think that something silly happening in the Baltics, Russia then invading say Estonia while the Americans decide to stay out of the fight directly, but continue to sell weapons to Europe and provide intelligence, is that unrealistic or outside the realm of possibilities. Unlikely, sure, but it's definitely something that can happen. If fulfills the ultimate Russian geopolitical goal of de-legitimising NATO by attacking it's weakest point, and testing just how committed Europe is to defending NATO's relatively new and smallest members. The US won't see the need to intervene directly unless there's a massive frontline collapse in eastern europe, but will be happy to sell weapons and grind away at Russia further, via European NATO instead Ukraine.
Outside of a "boots on the ground" type war, a long range conventional strike exchange between Russia and Europe is also within the realm of possibilities, and probably more likely than boots on the ground. Pakistan and India, two nuclear armed nations, had one this year. Israel and Iran have had multiple since April 2024, including a 12 day long one in June of this year. In both cases, more exchanges are probably inevitable before the decade is finished. Ukraine fires US and Anglo-French made missiles into Russia proper. Russia already flew decoy one way attack drones over Poland a few months ago. Styrofoam decoys with no warhead sure, but still very much an action taken.
yeah, what's russia gonna do when one of the baltic states starts shelling their russian minority? cos that's what i fear is the next step here. i know estonia's been drooling to do that since the 90s.
the arrangement of an attack on a NATO country in a way that produced ignorable US losses would require downright collusion with Russia. US congress and people (as of 2025) would demand war for killing/capturing 10 yankee soldiers, nevermind a brigade or division