10 min read — Interviews | EU | NATO | Defense
The New Reality for Europe’s Youth: Unity, Defense, and the Fight for Peace
Inside the minds of young Europeans confronting uncertainty and standing for solidarity.
By Nikki van Arenthals — International Affairs Senior Editor
Edited/Reviewed by: Midas van de Weetering | Francesco Bernabeu Fornara
June 8, 2025 | 12:30
They were raised on the promise of peace. For most young Europeans, war was history — something their grandparents had lived through, not a reality they would ever face. Europe, they were told, had changed. Its borders no longer bled. Its nations, once enemies, now formed a union built on dialogue, trade, and trust.
But that illusion is breaking.
The war in Ukraine has dragged into its third year. What once felt distant now colors every headline, every policy debate, every future plan. The idea that peace is a permanent condition has eroded. For a generation that grew up under the EU flag, the present feels precarious — and the future, newly contested.
This is their new reality: instability, fragmentation, and a growing sense that if Europe wants peace, it will have to fight for it.
Goodbye Washington
The foundation of Europe’s postwar security — the transatlantic alliance — is cracking. Once unquestioned, U.S. support for NATO has become erratic, conditional, and openly transactional.
Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign reawakened old fears. His threat to “encourage Russia to do whatever the hell they want” if allies failed to increase defense spending sent a clear message: Europe could no longer count on automatic protection.
Trump’s return to the White House in 2025 has deepened the uncertainty. His claim that he could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours quickly shifted to a six-month projection — and even that came with few details.
What did become clear was a shift in Washington’s focus. At the 2025 Munich Security Conference, U.S. officials barely disguised their pivot: the Pacific mattered more now than the Atlantic. Vice-President JD Vance, speaking bluntly, cast doubt on the integrity of European democracies themselves.
The message was heard loud and clear in Brussels, Berlin, and beyond: the U.S. is stepping back.
Brussels Awakens
At the same time, Europe is under attack in less visible ways. Cyber warfare, disinformation, sabotage — the tools of Russia’s hybrid strategy — continue to target EU institutions and infrastructure. Even as the U.S. opens quiet channels to Moscow, European voices are excluded. A sense of abandonment is settling in.
In this vacuum, the debate over European defense is no longer theoretical. After decades of outsourcing security to Washington, the EU is being forced to confront an uncomfortable question: What if no one else will protect us?
Calls for a European Defense Union — long dismissed as idealistic or redundant — are gaining traction. NATO is still operational, but trust is fraying. Sovereignty, security, and solidarity are being redefined under pressure.
Young Europeans are watching this unfold in real time. And they’re asking hard questions:
What does European unity mean when alliances are no longer reliable?
What are we willing to give up — or take on — to defend ourselves?
And if peace is still the goal, what does that demand of us?
Solidarity, Redefined
Since 2022, solidarity with Ukraine has become a generational rallying point. Not just in words, but in action — fundraising campaigns, volunteer networks, student protests, advocacy efforts.
The choice of Lviv as European Youth Capital 2025 is symbolic — a city under threat, now a focal point of resilience. But it’s more than symbolism. The push for a common European identity is being driven not from top-down institutions, but from below — by a generation that no longer takes peace for granted and is willing to organize to protect it.
Recent data supports this shift. A Europe-wide survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations found overwhelming support among young people for Ukraine’s sovereignty, and nearly two-thirds believe the war could spill into EU territory. A growing majority now back deeper military cooperation, even the creation of a European army — once a fringe idea, now entering the mainstream.
In the Netherlands, a recent Euro Prospects poll showed more than 90% of university students support closer EU collaboration on defense. For them, this isn’t abstract politics. It’s the beginning of a reckoning: a generation confronting the end of an era and choosing to respond not with retreat — but with resolve.
‘The ground has shifted, and it’s not shifting back’
Francesco Bernabeau Fornara, the Spanish-Italian editor-in-chief of Euro Prospects, articulates this shift with calm clarity. Sitting in a quiet hallway at the University of Amsterdam, where he is finishing his EU law degree, he speaks without alarmism, but with unmistakable urgency.
“This is one of the most antagonistic moments in global relations we’ve seen in decades,” he says. “The U.S. is no longer the uncontested global leader. We live in a multipolar world, shaped more by rivalry than cooperation. Putin is becoming bolder. China too. If the liberal, rules-based order is to survive, Europe will have to defend it — not just with weapons, but with strategic cohesion and political will.”
Francesco doesn’t predict tanks rolling across European borders. The more immediate danger, he says, is subtler — and already here. Hybrid warfare, from cyberattacks to election interference, is the true frontline. “These tactics destabilize democracies without firing a shot. That’s what makes them so dangerous.”
Midas van de Weetering, a public governance student and history graduate from Utrecht, shares this analysis. “Look at the sabotage of internet cables in the Baltic Sea,” he points out. “This is the new battleground — silent, invisible, but able to shut down critical systems overnight.”
He pauses, thoughtful. “We’re living on the edge between peace and war. It might not erupt tomorrow, but the ground has shifted. And it’s not shifting back.”
‘There is momentum for change’
Both Francesco and Midas speak not from fear, but from realism — a realism born of watching the institutions they once trusted stumble, and choosing to engage rather than withdraw. “Sometimes I feel powerless,” Francesco admits.
“Wars, political betrayal, hybrid threats — most of it is beyond our control.” But he also sees opportunity. “There’s finally momentum for structural change. For decades, Europe’s defense thinking was paralyzed by old divides — Germany relying on NATO, France pushing for autonomy. But that gap is closing.”
Germany’s transformation, he notes, is especially significant. “Even the German Chancellor now acknowledges that Europe must step up. But it’s not about building a European army for its own sake. It’s about pooling resources, avoiding duplication, and becoming more resilient — militarily, economically, socially.”
‘Assuming peace was permanent was a mistake’
Midas puts it more bluntly. “If Europe had hit NATO’s 2 percent target years ago, we wouldn’t be sitting here anxious about Washington’s next move.” His frustration is visceral. “We slashed defense budgets because we assumed peace was permanent. That was a mistake.” He pauses, then adds with quiet resolve, “Strength isn’t aggression. It’s survival. And America won’t always be there.”
For Midas, idealism is no longer enough. What matters now is leverage, relevance, and credibility. He plans to pursue his masters in European diplomacy next year — as an academic interest and as a personal responsibility. “Europe needs to matter. And that means showing we can take care of our own.”
‘I realized we needed a space like Euro Prospects’
Francesco, too, has found his way of contributing. As the editor-in-chief of Euro Prospects, he leads a network of young Europeans trying to reframe how political discourse happens across the continent. What started as a student blog has grown into a platform for commentary, explainers, and longform analysis — all written by and for the generation that will inherit the EU’s successes and failures alike.
“There wasn’t a big plan at the start,” Francesco recalls. “I just liked writing. But the more I studied EU institutions, the democratic disconnect, the lack of real conversations between citizens and Brussels — the more I realized we needed a space like this.”
Now, that space exists. Euro Prospects publishes stories with a rotating team of contributors eager to bridge national narratives. The goal is simple but radical: make European politics understandable again, relevant again, human again. “We don’t want to mimic the big outlets,” he says. “We want to speak in a language people actually use. We want to start a European conversation.’
Disclaimer: While Euro Prospects encourages open and free discourse, the opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or views of Euro Prospects or its editorial board.
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