BRUSSELS: Over the course of 2025, a new reality has sunk in for Europe. The United States, long its strongest ally, has chipped away at the European Union's unity, economies, security and even its democracies, setting the backdrop for an EU summit this week at the end of an exceptionally trying year.
After putting an indefinite freeze last week on Russian assets in Europe, EU leaders face a new test of strength at Thursday's summit. Ukraine is in dire financial straits, and they have promised to meet Kyiv's economic and military needs for the next two years, most probably through a new reparations loan.
"It's crunch time for Europe and Ukraine," warned Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.
"We need to take this decision in order to secure the Ukrainian economy, but also in order to send a signal to the rest of the world, which will include the White House in (Washington) DC, that Europe is a strong geopolitical player," he added.
As the continent's biggest land war in decades rages on, the Europeans have been tested by President Donald Trump's threats, his support for Europe's far right, and his camaraderie with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At first they responded with flattery. Less so in recent months.
Since January, as the leaders have tried to keep Ukraine in the fight against its bigger neighbor, Trump has switched back and forth, appearing to support Kyiv one month, Russia the next. He has mostly remained critical of Europe, and that criticism now has a sharper edge.
European leaders have worked to fill the gap and shore up military support for Ukraine, but they concede that the United States is an irreplaceable partner, and Trump is the only person Putin might talk peace with.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned last week that "we are really witnessing a watershed moment now and nothing is the way it was before. We're living in a different time, and this time requires different responses than we've given in the past."