European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius has suggested that creating a European Security Council could be a practical step to coordinate Europe-wide defense projects, European Pravda reports.
Previously, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several experts argued that Europe needs its own forces and command structures to protect its territory. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned that such a move could cause confusion. The Security Council could be a potential first step toward structured European defense management.
European Security Council to coordinate and guide
Kubilius notes that the idea of a European Security Council was first discussed by Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel in 2017–2018 and could now serve as a key tool for coordination.
He says that "perhaps we truly need a European Security Council to coordinate and guide us" through this major transformation of European defense.
Member states would take the lead in collective defense while leveraging existing mechanisms to build Europe-wide projects.
Collective defense as a continental power
The Commissioner stresses the strategic importance of shared defense for Europe’s global position. He says that the collective defense would be European strength in a world of giants.
"In a world of giants, we must also become giants....gentle giants promoting international law and cooperation, but still strong giants," he claims.
Such coordination would improve management of major defense programs, including missiles, drones, air defense, and space intelligence, and strengthen the readiness of joint response forces in the event of threats to Europe.
Greenland crisis triggers changes
Recent events around Greenland highlighted Europe’s reliance on the US for security. US President Donald Trump initially requested US control over the territory, but later revised his stance.
On 22 January 2026, Trump announced, after meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, a “framework agreement” on Greenland, though the document has not been publicly released.
A similar pattern holds for security agreements with Ukraine. Kyiv reports that agreements are ready, but they remain unpublished, creating strategic uncertainty.
