Please think again: The forgotten Achilles heel of European defense

When high-tech doesn't satisfy: Europe's dangerous defense gap

At its summit in Brussels at the end of October 2025, the European People's Party presented an ambitious defense concept that aims to arm Europe against the persistent Russian threat by 2030. With four large-scale flagship projects 🔵 the European Drone Defense Initiative, 🔵 monitoring the eastern flank, 🔵 the European Air Shield and 🔵 European Space Protection The strategy paper outlines a comprehensive military response to the changing security situation. The total cost of this arms buildup is estimated at up to €800 billion by 2030, with the European Union's defense spending doubling from the current annual level of around €392 billion to over €800 billion by 2035. These figures are impressive in their sheer magnitude. Europe is taking this military turning point seriously and is responding to the persistent threat from Russia with a historic investment offensive in armaments and technology. However, despite all the admiration for the technical precision of the planning, a fundamental gap is revealed that is symptomatic of the strategic thinking of European security policymakers: Providing supplies to the civilian population in the event of a defense situation is mentioned at best in passing, but nowhere is it defined as a central strategic objective. Yet this is precisely the core of any serious defense planning.