Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal proposes to build the EU Armed Forces project on the basis of the Ukrainian army and its combat experience.

He outlined this idea in an article for Politico.

According to the Ukrainian politician, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will strengthen the European Union and can become the basis for building a single European army. To realize this idea, only a political decision is needed.

“The bloc is no longer just standing on the threshold of new emerging security challenges. It is living them. But there is a country that’s not only faced various manifestations of Russia’s aggression and, most importantly, knows how to counter them. This country is Ukraine. That is why Ukraine’s accession to the EU isn’t only a moral obligation but a strategic step that is, first and foremost, necessary for the bloc itself. A step that would strengthen its eastern flank militarily and increase its geopolitical weight globally,” Shmyhal said.

According to Shmyhal, the Ukrainian army has the richest experience in modern warfare, and the Ukrainian industry has managed to establish mass production of “artillery of the 21st century” – drones.

“While no more than 5,000 drones were produced in Ukraine in 2022, the end of 2024 saw more than 1 million FPV drones sent to the front line alone.,” the Prime Minister writes.

Shmyhal noted that the Ukrainian army was more than ever ready to integrate into the EU defense system, implementing NATO standards in practice. By joining the EU, Ukraine and its armed forces will become a pillar of a single European army.

According to the Prime Minister, the Ukrainian military could become an alternative to the US army, which currently has more than 65,000 troops in the EU. In addition to its practical significance, this decision could strengthen relations with the United States, as Washington increasingly questions the need to deploy its military abroad.

“We aren’t a country that’s come begging to join the EU for the sake of obtaining public funds, preferences or benefits. We’re a country that knows its worth and is honest with its allies. We’re a country that could become the foundation for the defense of all of Europe. We already are” he summarized.

The idea of creating an EU army

The initiative to build a single European army is not new. In 2017, the representatives of 23 of the 28 EU members signed a declaration of intent to establish the Permanent Structured Cooperation on Security and Defense (PESCO). In essence, a European defense alliance.

A year later, French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized that “Europeans cannot be protected without a real European army.”

“The EU needs its own army, given Russia, China, and even the United States. The EU cannot rely on the United States alone,” Macron said at the time.

Currently, the European Union is already forming certain supranational bodies and defense mechanisms: in 2022, against the backdrop of Russian missile attacks, the EU began building a unified air and missile defense system. Over the past two years, the EU has financed joint defense procurement and conducted pan-European military exercises for the first time.