When accepting the Charlemagne Prize of Aachen on behalf of the Ukrainian people in May 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy boldly proclaimed that ‘Ukraini- ans will always make Europe stronger’. He also cautiously warned that while history is built on victories, it also remembers defeats. It is clear that European leaders do not want to leave Ukraine prey to any negative fate of history. The shock of a return to war in Europe has certainly galvanised leaders and forced them to act in ways unthinkable before the war. Rus- sia’s war on Ukraine has also done more for any notion of strategic responsibility or autonomy than any single speech by European leaders. Out of the destruction in Ukraine comes a sense, however faint, of a strategic culture in Europe built on action and initiatives.
EU Military Forum, No. 3/2023
Daniel Fiott 