Page 16 - The European Union and the War on Ukraine

united around the war in Ukraine than some European governments.
For the first time, the significant majority of European citizens demands
from the EU and the respective governments the adopting of

meaningful decisions and taking actions, and not the other way around,
as traditionally the EU tries to convince Europeans of the righteousness
of various EU-wide initiatives. Europeans clearly see the war as a

problem not only for Ukraine but for European security and they want
NATO and the EU to respond to the crisis.
For the first time, Europe is consciously willing to make
sacrifices for the sake of stopping the aggression against a non-EU state,

unlike in 2014 when Europeans did not view the conflict in Ukraine as
a European crisis. On March 9, 2022, in his address to the EU
parliament, EU Foreign Affairs Chief, Josep Borrell, stated that "this

conflict will last, it will not disappear overnight" and that "European
citizens need to turn the heat down in their houses, everybody needs to
14
make an effort."
For the first time, the EU in an efficient and coordinated

manner, accepted millions of refugee immigrants after years of disputes
and disagreements concerning foreigners willing to cross the Union’s
borders. For the first time, the European Commission bought lethal
arms for a non-EU country at war by using the EU budget. Moreover,

on March 11, 2022, EU leaders pledged to double financing for military
aid to Ukraine worth up to € 500 million through the European Peace
15
16
Facility instrument.

14 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/09/russian-gas-oil-vladimir-putin-
war-europe-eu-official
15 https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-ukraine-russia-funding-weapons-budget-
military-aid/
16 https://ec.europa.eu/fpi/what-we-do/european-peace-facility_en
15