E5 leaders push for European defence union and security council

European Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said the cooperation of the five major European military powers – France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom (the “E5”) – is a “step in the right direction” toward an EU defence union. He argued the format could evolve into a European Security Council that would provide top‑down political guidance and operate under a qualified‑majority treaty framework, with an operational manual to be published after the EU security strategy due in late 2026.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, speaking after the E5 leaders’ meeting in Berlin, called on Europe to assume responsibility for a multidimensional security agenda that includes protecting critical infrastructure, energy supplies, cyber data and borders. She reaffirmed Italy’s commitment to Ukraine, to critical‑infrastructure resilience, and to broader strategic stability in the Middle East, while urging a stronger, more integrated European contribution to the Atlantic Alliance.