For Europe to Hold Together, We Need More Than Defence

On Europe Day, Dylan Ahern — founder of De Kiesmannen and initiator of EuropaNacht — and André Wilkens, Director of the European Cultural Foundation (ECF), published an op-ed in Brusselse Nieuwe with a clear message: Europe’s future cannot be secured through military investment alone. It must also be built on shared meaning, culture, and belonging.

As the European Union prepares to invest €800 billion in defence — including €150 billion through a newly established fund — the authors warn that the political project remains vulnerable if people don’t feel part of it. “No defence issue can protect our continent,” they write, “if the citizens do not feel European.”

The article draws on the findings of the European Sentiment Compass, a joint research effort by ECF and the European Council on Foreign Relations. It identifies three persistent blind spots in how Europe imagines itself: it is too white, Western, and “boomer.” For many younger and bicultural citizens, European identity remains abstract or exclusionary.

Ahern and Wilkens argue that symbolism alone cannot solve this cultural gap. While programmes like Erasmus+ and Creative Europe offer meaningful experiences, they call for a more ambitious cultural agenda that creates real opportunities for connection and participation across borders.

“The European Union can buy new tanks,” they write, “but without a shared feeling that we as Europeans stand for, our joint defence remains fragile and we are being played apart.”

As political momentum builds for deeper military integration, the piece is a timely reminder that Europe is defended not only by institutions but also by the stories, symbols, and cultural spaces that give people a reason to stand together.

Photo: Brusselse Nieuwe