{"id":1386063,"date":"2026-06-11T13:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T10:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/?p=1386063"},"modified":"2026-06-10T11:24:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T08:24:53","slug":"integration-of-the-ukrainian-army-into-a-european-defense-union-is-in-the-eu-s-strategic-interest-kubilius-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/integration-of-the-ukrainian-army-into-a-european-defense-union-is-in-the-eu-s-strategic-interest-kubilius-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Integration of the Ukrainian Army into a European Defense Union Is in the EU\u2019s Strategic Interest, Kubilius Says"},"content":{"rendered":" <p>The strategic interest of the European Union is the integration of the Ukrainian military into a European Defense Union, which could also include countries outside the EU, according to European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius, <a href=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/\">UATV English<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n   <p>Speaking at the roundtable discussion <em>\u201cA New Security Architecture for Europe: Ukraine as a Strategic Pillar of the Continent\u2019s Defense Future\u201d<\/em> in Brussels, Kubilius said that the EU\u2019s interest extends not only to Ukraine\u2019s armed forces but also to its defense industry, which has gained unique wartime experience.<\/p>\n    <blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cIf we have on the European continent the strongest European army\u2014the second strongest military force in our region\u2014this should clearly demonstrate that integrating Ukraine\u2019s defense capabilities with European defense must be Europe\u2019s most important strategic interest. Ukraine has the strongest army not only because it has the bravest soldiers and the smartest generals, but also because it has the most innovative defense industry. Europe therefore has a vital interest in integrating this innovative defense industry with the European defense sector,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n   <p>Kubilius argued that, while Ukraine\u2019s accession to NATO and the EU remains unresolved, Europe must find a way to incorporate Ukraine into a common defense framework. Otherwise, the EU risks facing the Russian military on its own.<\/p>\n    <blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cUkraine\u2019s NATO membership has not yet been agreed upon, and we do not know when it might happen. EU membership could also take more time. I would be delighted to see Ukraine become an EU member tomorrow, but we need to face reality. Europe must become much stronger now, not sometime in the future. If Putin launches aggression against EU or NATO countries today, we would face a battle-hardened Russian army capable of deploying millions of drones. No EU or NATO member state on the European continent has such experience. Only Ukraine does. That is why we need a European defense architecture that allows for Ukraine\u2019s institutional integration now, not tomorrow,\u201d the commissioner said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n   <p>He added that other countries could also join such a European Defense Union alongside Ukraine.<\/p>\n    <blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cIn my view, Ukraine, as well as the United Kingdom, Norway, perhaps Turkey, and even Canada, could join EU member states in a European Defense Union. Such a union should be created voluntarily by those countries that want much closer defense cooperation and far greater unity in defense than exists today,\u201d Kubilius concluded.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n   <p>It is worth noting that Kubilius has previously stated that EU member states should allocate \u20ac70 billion for Ukraine\u2019s defense in 2026.<\/p>\n   <p><strong>Read also:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/nordic-baltic-eight-back-opening-all-eu-negotiation-clusters-for-ukraine-in-june-july\/\">Nordic-Baltic Eight Back Opening All EU Negotiation Clusters for Ukraine in June\u2013July<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The strategic interest of the European Union is the integration of the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":1267140,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,14,49,51,36415,36422,55,50,36537,36572],"tags":[76,78,72926],"sources":[],"class_list":["post-1386063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-ukraine","category-news-en","category-europe-en","category-11473-news-en","category-11473-news-en-3","category-ukraine-en","category-svit-en","category-11473-ukraine-en-news-en-4","category-11473-ukraine-en-news-en-5","tag-glavnoe-en","tag-homepage-en","tag-ukraine-s-allies-aid"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Integration of the Ukrainian Army into a European Defense Union Is in the EU\u2019s Strategic Interest, Kubilius Says - Freedom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/integration-of-the-ukrainian-army-into-a-european-defense-union-is-in-the-eu-s-strategic-interest-kubilius-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Integration of the Ukrainian Army into a European Defense Union Is in the EU\u2019s Strategic Interest, Kubilius Says - Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The strategic interest of the European Union is the integration of the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/integration-of-the-ukrainian-army-into-a-european-defense-union-is-in-the-eu-s-strategic-interest-kubilius-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-11T10:23:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/192-820x473.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"473\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Danylo Shportilo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Danylo Shportilo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/integration-of-the-ukrainian-army-into-a-european-defense-union-is-in-the-eu-s-strategic-interest-kubilius-says\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/integration-of-the-ukrainian-army-into-a-european-defense-union-is-in-the-eu-s-strategic-interest-kubilius-says\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Danylo Shportilo\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f4fe8d6d08deebcdee69f6671576d2d2\"},\"headline\":\"Integration of the Ukrainian Army into a European Defense Union Is in the EU\u2019s Strategic Interest, Kubilius Says\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T10:23:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/integration-of-the-ukrainian-army-into-a-european-defense-union-is-in-the-eu-s-strategic-interest-kubilius-says\/\"},\"wordCount\":454,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/integration-of-the-ukrainian-army-into-a-european-defense-union-is-in-the-eu-s-strategic-interest-kubilius-says\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/192.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"\u0413\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u043e\u0435\",\"\u041d\u0430 \u0433\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0443\u044e (\u0441\u043b\u0430\u0439\u0434\u0435\u0440)\",\"Ukraine\u2019s Allies &amp; 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