By Jorge Liboreiro

“Europe is in a fight.”

This was the opening line of Ursula von der Leyen’s much-anticipated State of the European Union speech. She admitted she had hesitated whether to include or exclude that statement, fearing the bold, ominous tone would alienate her audience. But then, upon seeing the state of our “unforgiving” world, she decided to go for it.

“Does Europe have the stomach for this fight?” she asked lawmakers in Strasbourg.

As it happened, she didn’t have to wait for an answer. Just hours before her hour-long address, several Russian drones broke through Poland’s sovereign territory, triggering a military response from Polish and NATO forces, which moved quickly to shoot them down. The incident put the entire continent on high alert. It marked the first time that NATO planes had engaged potential threats in allied airspace.

For a brief moment in time, any worst-case scenario was possible. It was the closest that Poland had been to all-out war since 1939. Consider that.

“Downing drones threatening our security is a success of the Polish military and NATO, which simultaneously changes the political situation,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Warsaw invoked Article 4 of the NATO treaty, which prompts consultations with allies, and called for a meeting of the UN Security Council. European leaders reacted quickly to express full support for Poland and close ranks in the face of Russia’s blatant violation of territorial sovereignty. The Kremlin tried to play down the incident, claiming the drones, aimed at unleashing another bloodshed upon Ukrainians, had veered off course.

Europeans didn’t buy it: for them, it was intentional.

“To Putin, my message is clear: stop the war in Ukraine, stop escalating the war, which is now basically mounting on innocent civilians and civilian infrastructure, stop violating allied airspace and know that we stand ready, that we are vigilant and that we will defend every inch of NATO territory,” said NATO Secretary General Mark Rute.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, many Europeans have tried to convince themselves that the conflict would be confined to Ukraine’s geographical boundaries and that Europe would remain a supporter firmly on the sidelines, sheltered from the brutality on the battlefield. It’s understandable to see why: as von der Leyen said, the EU is “fundamentally a peace project”. Citizens are, by default, inclined to see the bloc as incompatible with the concept of armed confrontation.

Let’s remember that, earlier this year, some EU leaders publicly protested the use of the term “rearm” to describe a new €800-billion plan to boost defence capabilities. The fact that the complaints mostly came from Spain and Italy, two countries relatively far from Russia, didn’t go unnoticed.

But Vladimir Putin continues to shatter every illusion.

His revisionist ambitions, clearly emboldened by Donald Trump’s haphazard, flip-flopping diplomacy, remain intent on terrorising any free nation that dares stand in the way. Poland’s airspace: violated. The EU delegation in Kyiv: severely damaged. Undersea cables: sabotaged. State agencies: hacked. Democratic elections: flooded with disinformation. Whether you call them hybrid warfare, reckless provocations, or fits of madness, these are all acts engineered with the same purpose: to weaken Europe to the point of subjugation. 

“So, yes, Europe must fight. For its place in a world in which many major powers are either ambivalent or openly hostile to Europe,” von der Leyen said.

“A world of imperial ambitions and imperial wars. A world in which dependencies are ruthlessly weaponised. And it is for all of these reasons that a new Europe must emerge.”