Brian Keegan: Ukraine invasion has made a fast, decisive union out of slow, bureaucratic EU

Regardless of the outcome of Russia’s illegal war, there has been a profound, and perhaps permanent, change of mindset in the European approach

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission applauds Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, as he speaks in a video conference. Picture: Getty

In German the term “merkeln” is a somewhat backhanded compliment to the former German chancellor. It means to put off decisions until conditions improve. The EU response to the atrocious Russian invasion of Ukraine is showing that this attitude has had its day.

An extreme development, even within a week of extremes, has been the decisiveness of the EU approach when responding to the Russian invasion. This wasn’t just a triumph over the labyrinthine EU ...