By Zhou Zhuobin, Xing Xue and Liu Zhonghua

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, the US has heavily intervened in support and imposed extreme sanctions, resulting in the crisis escalating and prolonging, causing the largest geopolitical disaster in Europe since the Cold War. The US leveraged the crisis to further bind Europe’s dependence on them for energy and security, restricting European strategic autonomy. The deteriorating security situation has prompted European countries to increase their military spending, while the US has reaped the benefits. European countries have disproportionately borne the economic costs of war and the refugee crisis.

Strengthening the control over strategic security in Europe

On April 4, 2023, Finland officially joined NATO, becoming its 31st member state. Finland’s accession to NATO signifies the end of its era of military non-alignment, and underscores the fact that European security is increasingly strategically tied to the US-led NATO.

After the Cold War, the US pushed for NATO’s continued eastward expansion, which squeezed Russia’s strategic survival space and strengthened its control over Europe politically, militarily, and economically. Following the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, the EU adopted the Versailles Declaration and A Strategic Compass for Security and Defence to speed up the integration of security and defense. However, over a year later, the EU’s strategic independence in this field is still constrained. Europe’s pressing security and defense needs have led it to strengthen its ties with NATO, deepening its reliance on the US, which continues to extract benefits from its allies.

US arms dealers earned massive profits

According to a recent annual report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden, military spending in Europe increased by 13% in 2022 compared to 2021, marking the largest increase in over 30 years. The International Institute for Strategic Studies, a UK-based think tank, also stated in their The Military Balance 2022 that European countries’ military spending saw a surge due to the Ukraine crisis.

For over a year, NATO countries led by the US have continuously supplied weapons to Ukraine and initiated their own military expansion, which has actually enriched US arms dealers.

According to Reuters, the Ukraine crisis has caused European demand for US weaponary to soar. European countries are investing heavily in the purchase of American-made weapons to be shipped to Ukraine and replenish their depleting ammunition stockpiles. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency of the US Department of Defense reports that in 2021, the US government approved 14 major arms sales programs worth approximately USD 15.5 billion to NATO allies. In 2022, the number of approved major arms sales had skyrocketed to 24 with a value of approximately USD 28 billion.

The conflict in Europe presents a rare opportunity for American arms dealers to earn enormous profits. Reuters has reported that the surge in Europe’s demand for weapons from the US since the Ukraine crisis has led to a USD 35 billion increase in the market value of major military companies in America.

Europe’s pursuit of strategic autonomy is hindered

Since the beginning of this year, numerous European leaders have stressed the issue of strategic autonomy in Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron recently stated that Europe should not “get caught up in crises that are not ours”, and that the establishment of strategic autonomy is essential to preventing European countries from becoming vassals.

Europe has long desired strategic autonomy, but the US has openly or secretly hindered and opposed this. Against the ongoing Ukraine crisis, the process of European integration has encountered more setbacks and relationships between countries have worsened. European Council on Foreign Relations, a European think-tank, believes that the Ukraine crisis could become a key dividing line for Europe, with divergences growing among member states, government positions and popular sentiment, and between Eastern and Western Europe.

“Europe’s crisis is seen as an opportunity for the US,” said Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University. By fueling the Ukraine crisis, the US has disrupted the development pace of European countries, forcing them to allocate more funds towards defense rather than development, ultimately depriving them of their right to progress. The US is solely concerned with its own national interest, fixated on great power competition and indifferent towards the interests of allies and other nations.

According to Ulrike Franke, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, the ideals and concepts of strategic autonomy or European sovereignty should remain unchanged. Europe needs to become stronger and more united, rather than directly rely on the US.

Editor's note: Originally published on chinanews.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.