Kallas Has the Plan. Merz May Have the Power.

Kaja Kallas has exposed the EU’s bluff. Now Friedrich Merz may be the only one who can help her turn the tide.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas arrived at the March 20th summit with a bold, clear-eyed goal: rally the bloc around a €40 billion military aid package to support Ukraine through the end of 2025. But rather than meet the moment, the EU’s traditional debt bingers—France, Italy, and Spain—banded together to block the plan, opting once again for posturing over substance.

Kallas scaled back her ambition, proposing a more targeted €5 billion package for 2 million artillery shells. The logic was sound. Ukraine needs shells. European defense firms are scaling up. The price? Modest. But even that plan was shot down—again by France, Italy, and Spain.

Then came the inevitable turn in the Brussels blame cycle: critics accused Kallas of “acting like a prime minister,” failing to consult individual member states. But here’s the question no one wants to ask: Would France, Italy, or Spain have agreed to anything at all? Odds are slim to none.

You can look at the numbers yourself. Since the start of the war, combined military, economic, and humanitarian aid from these three countries is underwhelming:

• France: €4.3 billion

• Italy: €1.8 billion

• Spain: €1.4 billion