The fourth working session of the ECR Group Study Days in Vilnius focused on the role of the United States in ensuring security in Central and Eastern Europe, and on how Europe can take greater responsibility for its own defence while keeping the transatlantic alliance strong.

The panel discussion, moderated by MEP and leader of the Polish delegation within the ECR Group Adam Bielan, brought together Italian ECR MEP Elena Donazzan, Latvian ECR MEP Roberts Zīle, security expert Šarūnas Liekis and Czech ECR MEP Alexandr Vondra.

Opening the debate, Adam Bielan stressed that the United States continues to see Europe as vital to its own strategic interests, but that Washington now expects Europeans to assume a greater share of responsibility for their own security.

“The American doctrine makes clear that Europe remains vital to the United States. The US needs a strong Europe and will help defend it against any enemy. But America also has new expectations: Europeans must take more responsibility for their own security,” Bielan said. He noted that this message may still sound new to parts of Western Europe, but is already a natural reality for the Baltic states and much of Central and Eastern Europe.

“Lithuania for example has invested heavily in the presence of US and allied troops in the region. Our task is to ensure long and sustainable US engagement while building a stronger Europe inside NATO and reinforcing the Eastern flank ourselves,” he added.

Elena Donazzan underlined that the US military presence in Europe remains indispensable, with around 90,000 troops and dozens of bases across the continent.

“We do not need a European army. It’s not realistic. What we need are European forces that are actually able to fight off any attack,” Donazzan said. She argued that Europe must first develop a clear strategic direction before discussing tactics, spending targets or institutional ambitions.

“Today, Europe is pacifist and – let’s name it: weak. Before investing more resources, we must know where we want to go. Europe needs a real defence strategy, and the ECR should help shape it,” she said.

Roberts Zīle stressed that security is the foundation for everything else, including investment, growth and public confidence.

“If you cannot provide defence and security for people, everything else falls apart. You cannot create anything in a society or expect to have incentives for investment if citizens and businesses do not feel protected,” Zīle said. He argued that keeping US soldiers in Europe remains essential because their presence strengthens deterrence and links the security of the Eastern flank directly to American strategic interests. “It is important that US soldiers remain here, because an attack on one of these countries would then also be a direct challenge to the United States. At the same time, we must learn from Ukraine and rethink how we spend defence money and how we organise procurement,” he added.

Šarūnas Liekis warned that Europe is still not fully facing the scale and duration of the threat from Russia and other hostile actors.

“We are not really looking the real threat in the face. The crisis we are living through now may last until at least 2035, and we need to think in long cycles, not in short political reactions,” Liekis said. He argued that defence spending targets alone are not enough if the money does not produce real deterrence and modern military capabilities.

“Five per cent cannot simply become a kind of protection money. NATO was built for deterrence, and Europeans must contribute to deterrence in substance — not just spend money without knowing what they are getting for it,” he added.

Alexandr Vondra argued that the US presence in Europe remains essential because a Russian revival is only a matter of time and Europe must not allow NATO’s deterrence posture to weaken.

“The United States in Europe is essential, because the Russian revival is only a question of time. Thirty years ago we were playing offence by enlarging NATO; today we are too often only playing defence,” Vondra said. He stressed that Europe must take President Trump seriously, even when communication is difficult, and become more creative in keeping Washington engaged. “We need to have the US administration on our side. That means not taking every word literally, but taking him seriously and communicating intelligently,” he added. Vondra also warned against a protectionist approach to defence procurement that would prevent Europe from buying what it urgently needs.

“We need to defend our countries now, not in several decades. Europe should strengthen its own defence industry, but artificial barriers must not undermine our immediate ability to buy the equipment we need,” he said.

The debate addressed the feasibility of NATO’s five per cent defence spending goal, the need to strengthen Europe’s defence industrial base, the strategic importance of the Mediterranean and the need for Europe to act more seriously in defending freedom of navigation and global trade routes.