# REPORT: The E5 Berlin Summit — Europe's Five Military Powers Unite for Ukraine

> On June 24, 2026, the leaders of the five largest military powers in Europe gathered in Berlin under the informal format known as the E5. Friedrich Merz (Germany), Emmanuel Macron (France), Keir Starmer (United Kingdom), Giorgia Meloni (Italy), and Donald Tusk (Poland) pledged to strengthen the European pillar of NATO, accelerate cooperation on air defense, autonomous systems,

- Author: Maxime Marquette
- Publisher: MadMax (https://mad-max.co)
- Section: Reportage
- Published: 2026-06-29
- Canonical URL: https://mad-max.co/en/article/reportage-le-sommet-e5-de-berlin-les-cinq-puissances-militaires-europeennes-s-un

## Introduction: Berlin, June 24 — European defense takes shape

### Five leaders, one message, one united front

On **June 24, 2026**, the leaders of the five largest military powers in **Europe** gathered in **Berlin** under the informal format known as the **E5**. **Friedrich Merz** (Germany), **Emmanuel Macron** (France), **Keir Starmer** (United Kingdom), **Giorgia Meloni** (Italy), and **Donald Tusk** (Poland) pledged to strengthen the **European pillar of NATO**, accelerate cooperation on **air defense**, **autonomous systems**, **artificial intelligence**, and **long-range strike**, and maintain full support for **Ukraine**.

This summit came two weeks before the **NATO summit in Ankara** on **July 7–8, 2026** — a meeting shaping up to be historic, with defense contracts worth "dozens of billions of dollars" expected to be signed. The **E5** in **Berlin** served as a European dress rehearsal: the five military powers of the **EU** and the **United Kingdom** aligned their common positions before heading to **Ankara** to defend a coherent European vision of security.

### Germany announces 3.5% of GDP in defense spending by 2029

The summit's most resonant announcement came from Chancellor **Friedrich Merz**: **Germany** is targeting **3.5% of GDP** in defense spending by **2029**. This is a declaration of considerable ambition for a country that long resisted increasing its military spending beyond **NATO's 2%** threshold. This announcement, combined with a commitment to provide approximately **€8.5 billion** in military aid to **Ukraine** in **2026**, confirms **Germany**'s transformation into a major player in European security — a paradigm shift that would have seemed impossible before the Russian invasion of **2022**.

This figure of **3.5%** exceeds even the **3%** target now being discussed among some **NATO** members. It puts **Germany**, which has Europe's largest economy, on a rearmament trajectory unprecedented since the end of the **Cold War**. The political decision to invest heavily in defense was made possible by the exceptional public support that aid to **Ukraine** has garnered in **Germany** since **2022**.

*Five countries. Two-thirds of European GDP. And a shared decision: to finally take responsibility for their own defense. The E5 summit in Berlin is not a discussion club. It is the beginning of a European security architecture that did not exist before 2022. The fact that the meeting is happening now, ten days before the Ankara summit, says everything about the urgency these leaders feel.*

*Germany announcing 3.5% of GDP for defense is a historic reversal. This country, traumatized by two world wars and its own militarist past, spent decades refusing to play a military role in Europe. Putin managed in two years what years of NATO pressure had failed to accomplish: convincing Germany that military weakness is more dangerous than military strength.*

## The European pillar of NATO: what it means in practice

### A Europe taking greater charge of its own defense

The concept of a "European pillar of **NATO**" is not new — it dates back to debates in the **1990s** about the **European Security and Defence Identity**. But it takes on new and urgent meaning in **2026**, in a context where the **Trump** administration has blown hot and cold on the American commitment to **Europe**, creating a strategic uncertainty that Europeans cannot afford to leave unanswered.

Strengthening the European pillar of **NATO** means, concretely: increasing national defense spending to meet and exceed the **2%** targets, developing European command-and-control capabilities, building defense industries capable of producing sufficient munitions, weapons systems, and equipment to sustain a prolonged war effort without full dependence on the **United States**. The **E5** in **Berlin** commits its members to all these dimensions.

### Air defense, autonomous systems, and AI

The three areas of accelerated cooperation announced in **Berlin** — **air defense**, **autonomous systems**, and **artificial intelligence** — are precisely those that the war in **Ukraine** has identified as the most decisive for the next generation of conflicts. The saturation of Ukrainian air defense systems by massive Russian drone and missile strikes, and the rise of autonomous drones as a strategic breakthrough weapon, have shown that the forces that master these technologies will hold a decisive advantage.

The **E5** coordination on these areas seeks to avoid the duplication of national efforts — a chronic problem in the European defense industry — and to create economies of scale that allow the most needed capabilities to be developed faster and more cheaply. **Ukraine** itself becomes a partner in this industrial cooperation, as demonstrated by the **EU**'s **€343 million** program for Ukrainian defense technologies announced in **Gdańsk**.

*Long-range strike is perhaps the capability that most clearly reveals the current stakes. Ukraine has demonstrated that a relatively small country can strike deep into enemy territory with strategic effects — refineries, factories, logistics hubs. The five major European powers have learned the lesson. The race for long-range strike systems is on in Europe.*

## Poland: from the periphery to the heart of European defense

### A country that understood before the others

The presence of **Donald Tusk** at the **E5** in **Berlin** symbolizes **Poland**'s strategic transformation. Sharing borders with both **Ukraine** and the Russian exclave of **Kaliningrad**, **Poland** has understood the reality of the Russian threat for decades. It now dedicates more than **4% of its GDP** to defense — the highest level of any **NATO** member. It is becoming one of the most modern and best-equipped armies in **Europe**.

**Poland** is also one of the main logistical hubs for Western support to **Ukraine**. Its airports, roads, and railways serve as corridors for the delivery of weapons and equipment. Its shared border with **Ukraine** makes it a natural and vital partner for everything concerning Ukrainian security. The diplomatic crisis over the memorial question of the **UPA** — which led to **Zelensky**'s White Eagle Order being revoked — must not obscure the depth of this structural cooperation.

### The E5 format: flexibility and efficiency against institutional gridlock

The **E5** format has no official status in the institutional architecture of the **EU** or **NATO**. This is deliberate. It allows five countries to coordinate rapidly, make decisions, and announce them without waiting for the **EU**'s 27-member or **NATO**'s 32-member decision-making processes. Those processes are necessary to legitimize formal decisions — but they are too slow for the pace at which the security environment in **Europe** is evolving.

The **E5** functions as an engine of European defense integration: it creates facts on the ground that formal institutions are then called upon to ratify. It is the same model that governed the birth of the **Franco-German partnership** — two countries that coordinate upstream to then bring the others along. With five countries representing the major European defense budgets, the leverage effect is considerably greater.

*The E5 format is a perfect illustration of what political scientists call "coalition leadership" in international politics. When formal institutions are too cumbersome, the most powerful actors organize outside them to decide faster. It is democratically imperfect — but it is often more effective. And right now, effectiveness matters more than procedural perfection.*

## Support for Ukraine: a commitment reaffirmed without ambiguity

### A €70 billion aid package expected in Ankara

Beyond the **E5** commitments in **Berlin**, a **€70 billion** military aid package for **Ukraine** is expected at the **NATO** summit in **Ankara** — with **Zelensky**'s personal attendance. This package would represent one of the largest military support commitments ever collectively expressed by **Alliance** members.

For **Ukraine**, the political significance of this commitment exceeds its material content. It means that **NATO** — despite internal tensions, despite American uncertainties, despite the hesitations of some members — is maintaining its support for **Ukraine** at a high level. It is a signal to **Moscow** that the attrition strategy is not working, that the **West** will not abandon **Ukraine** halfway.

### Advanced weapons deliveries: a qualitative shift

Allied support for **Ukraine** has evolved considerably in quality since **2022**. The trajectory has moved from helmets and body armor in the opening weeks to **Patriot** missile systems, **F-16s**, Swedish **Gripens** (with **20 E/F** to be acquired and **16 C/D** as gifts), **Storm Shadow** and **SCALP** cruise missiles, and now pledges of French **Rafales**. Each escalation was preceded by long hesitations — and each escalation was ultimately crossed.

This upward trajectory in weapons deliveries is one of the reasons **Ukraine** has been able to hold out and develop its own offensive capabilities. The **Bars RS** missiles with a **1,000 km** range, long-range strike drones, Ukrainian glide bombs — all capabilities developed by the Ukrainian defense industry based on lessons learned from using Western systems.

*Every time the West crossed a "red line" in weapons deliveries to Ukraine — tanks, long-range missiles, aircraft — it turned out that Russia did not respond with nuclear escalation or direct conflict with NATO. Perhaps because Putin understands the limits of his coercive power. Or perhaps because the red lines we imposed on ourselves were fantasies. Either way, the lesson is clear: we should have gone further, sooner.*

## Long-range strike: a doctrinal revolution

### Ukraine as a pioneer of strategic strike doctrine

The **40-day campaign** approved by **Zelensky** on **June 25, 2026**, targeting Russian energy, logistics, and industrial infrastructure with medium- and long-range strikes, marks a new phase in the war. **Ukraine** is no longer simply defending itself — it is conducting a strategic economic attrition campaign against Russia's war-making capacity.

Strikes on the **Slaviansk-on-Kuban** refinery (Krasnodar), on refineries in the **Yaroslavl** region, on the **Azot** chemical plant in **Novomoskovsk** (Tula), on the **VZPP-S** semiconductor factory in **Voronezh** — all these strikes hit targets between **500 and 1,200 km** from the front. They demonstrate a deep strategic strike capability that **Ukraine** is developing at remarkable speed.

### The E5 and long-range strike: toward a common doctrine

The **E5**'s commitment to cooperate on long-range strike is directly grounded in this Ukrainian reality. The European countries that have supplied **Storm Shadow**, **SCALP**, and similar systems have observed their effectiveness in Ukrainian hands. They now understand the strategic value of these capabilities — and are seeking to develop more advanced versions, in sufficient quantities, for their own arsenals and for continued support to **Ukraine**.

Cooperation in this area is also tied to the question of long-range munitions for common systems. European arsenals have shrunk considerably since the war in **Ukraine** began — and rebuilding them takes time. The **E5** in **Berlin** commits its members to accelerating this rebuild, by coordinating orders to achieve better economies of scale from national and allied industries.

*Long-range strike is a capability that Europe had been under-developing for decades, comfortably assuming the United States would handle it. The war in Ukraine has revealed the price of that dependency. Building an autonomous European strategic strike capability will take years — but the process is now irreversibly underway.*

## European defense industry: breaking out of scarcity

### Lessons of an insufficient industrial mobilization

One of the most difficult challenges revealed by the war in **Ukraine** is the inadequacy of European defense industrial capacity. Stockpiles of artillery shells, missiles, air defense systems, and armored vehicles proved far insufficient to sustain a prolonged high-intensity war. **Europe** had dimensioned its defense industry for peace — not for war.

Since **2022**, considerable effort has been made to accelerate production. The **EU** has launched defense industry support programs (**EDIP**, **ASAP**), joint financing for shell procurement, and incentives for production investment. The result is real progress — but still insufficient against **Ukraine**'s needs and the allied stockpile rebuilding targets.

### E5 industrial partnerships: building common supply chains

The **E5** in **Berlin** commits to developing industrial partnerships in the most critical areas — air defense, autonomous systems, long-range strike. These partnerships aim to create transnational industrial supply chains capable of producing in sufficient quantities the capabilities **Europe** needs. They also allow the sharing of research and development costs, often prohibitive for the most technologically advanced programs.

**Ukraine** is invited into these partnerships — not as a passive beneficiary, but as a co-developer. Its defense industry, which has demonstrated remarkable innovative capacity under the pressure of war, possesses expertise in drones, anti-drone systems, and guided munitions that European industries recognize as valuable. The **EU**'s program of **€343 million** in guarantees and subsidies for Ukrainian defense technologies, signed in **Gdańsk**, follows this co-development logic.

*The idea of a Ukrainian defense industry co-developing capabilities with German, French, Polish, and British companies would have seemed absurd in 2021. In 2026, it is a concrete reality. The war has created an economic and industrial integration that years of diplomacy had not produced. It is one of the unintended effects that Putin certainly did not anticipate.*

## The common vision: a strengthened European pillar within the Alliance

### Taking over capabilities long provided by Washington

The central message of the E5 Berlin summit is clear: Europe must **gradually take over the capabilities long provided by the United States**. This diplomatic formulation covers a concrete reality — strategic intelligence, long-distance air transport, anti-missile defense, long-range precision strike. All areas where Europe has relied on Americans for decades and which today represent a structural dependency that is potentially problematic in the face of a Trump administration signaling progressive disengagement.

The five nations agreed to **coordinate their investments** in these specific areas — not to duplicate American capabilities, but to reduce their criticality. If Washington reduces its presence in Europe, European allies must be able to **fill the most urgent gaps** without catastrophic delay. This coordination work, begun at the defense minister level since 2024, is now elevated to the level of heads of state. This shift in hierarchy means faster decisions and larger budgets.

### Spain's exclusion: a political warning

The decision to **exclude Spain** from the E5 group in Berlin is a strong political signal. According to the Spanish daily El Español, Madrid was sidelined in part because Prime Minister **Pedro Sánchez** refuses to commit to spending **5% of GDP on defense** — the target that the four other E5 nations have accepted. This exclusion is not permanent, but it sends a message: in post-2022 Europe, nations that do not make serious commitments to their own defense do not sit at the strategic decision-making table.

The lesson is hard but necessary. European solidarity cannot function if some members free-ride on collective effort without contributing proportionally. The Baltic states, Poland, Finland — which devote **5 to 6% of their GDP** to defense — are entirely right to demand reciprocity from their larger and wealthier partners. The E5 in Berlin took this into account. Ankara will need to do the same.

*Starmer attended the E5 summit as sitting Prime Minister even after resigning under pressure from his own party. His potential successor will need to confirm these commitments. This is the inherent fragility of democracies in prolonged crises: leaders change, wars continue. Sweden, Poland, and France have shown that you can navigate changes of government without changing strategy vis-à-vis Russia. That can be learned.*

## The absentee: Spain and the divisions over military spending

### Sánchez excluded — a signal for the holdouts

Spain's exclusion from the E5 summit in Berlin did not go unnoticed. According to the Spanish daily **El Español**, Prime Minister **Pedro Sánchez** was sidelined in part because he refuses to commit to the **5% of GDP in defense spending** target — the same target that the four other E5 members have accepted. This symbolic exclusion sends a powerful message to every European capital: **strategic solidarity has a price**, and those who refuse to pay it do not sit at the decision-making table.

Spain is not the only European country dragging its feet on military spending. But it is one of the continent's largest economies, and its refusal to meet NATO's historic targets contrasts sharply with the efforts of smaller nations on the eastern flank. Lithuania, with three million inhabitants, devotes **5.4% of its GDP** to defense. Spain, with 47 million, remains well below the Alliance's **historic 2% baseline**. This contrast illustrates the divide between nations that live with the reality of the Russian threat and those that still perceive it as distant.

### The stakes of the Ankara summit for allied unity

The E5 summit in Berlin is a dress rehearsal for the **Ankara** summit. The five major European powers that met on June 24 wanted to arrive in Ankara with a coordinated message. They succeeded in aligning their positions on the main issues: support for Ukraine, strengthening the European pillar, industrial coordination. This united front strengthens the position of European allies in their dealings with the **Trump** administration, which seeks to engage each ally individually rather than facing a coordinated bloc.

The participation of **Mark Rutte** by video conference from Washington speaks to the summit's importance. He needed to meet with Trump to defuse tensions ahead of Ankara — tensions arising from American criticism over insufficient allied support for action against Iran and from Hegseth's announcement of a review of US forces in Europe. The E5 united front is the best argument Europeans can bring to that discussion: Europe is spending, Europe is organizing, Europe deserves the American partnership.

## Conclusion: The E5 in Berlin — a European defense finally serious

### A strategic turning point for European security

The **E5** summit in **Berlin** on **June 24, 2026** is not an ordinary event. It marks the crystallization of a strategic transformation of **Europe** that began on **February 24, 2022** and is not yet complete. The five largest military powers on the continent displayed their unity, their ambitions, and their commitment to **Ukraine** with a clarity that history will note.

**Germany** targeting **3.5% of GDP** for defense, **France** sending its cyber troops to learn in **Kyiv**, the **United Kingdom** maintaining its unwavering support despite **Brexit**, **Italy** integrating itself into European defense cooperation, **Poland** spending **4%** of its **GDP** on defense — these five countries form a hard core around which European defense can finally take a coherent and credible shape.

### What remains to be done

But the road ahead is long. Announcements must be transformed into real capabilities, budget commitments into delivered equipment, announced cooperations into effective industrial supply chains. This level of ambition must be sustained over time, in the face of economic pressures, domestic political changes, and Russian attempts to divide the **Alliance**. And support for **Ukraine** must continue — not only until a ceasefire, but until a just and lasting peace that guarantees its sovereignty and security.

The **E5** in **Berlin** laid the foundations. **Ankara** must consolidate them. And the years that follow must transform them into the permanent reality of a **Europe** capable of defending itself and defending its values.

*Berlin, June 24, 2026 — a date that will remain in the annals of European defense integration. Five leaders decided together that Europe could no longer rely solely on Washington. This is not anti-Americanism. It is strategic maturity. And it arrived, as it often does, under the pressure of events.*

**By Maxime Marquette, columnist**

## Columnist's transparency note

### Editorial stance

I am not a journalist but a **columnist and analyst**. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies.

I do not claim the cold objectivity of traditional journalism, which stops at reporting facts. **I claim analytical clarity**, rigorous interpretation and a deep understanding of the complex issues that concern us all. My role is to give meaning to the facts, to place them in their historical and strategic context, and to offer a critical reading of events.

### Method and sources

This text keeps the basic distinction between **verified facts and interpretive analysis**. The rule never changes: a factual claim is published only when a verifiable source supports it, and the sources this article actually used are listed under **Sources**, never here.

**Primary source families** used by the publication, when the story has them: official statements from governments and international institutions, public statements by political leaders, reports from intergovernmental organisations, dispatches from recognised international news agencies.

**Secondary source families**: specialised publications, internationally recognised news media, analyses from established research institutions, reports from industry organisations.

When an article cites statistical, economic or geopolitical data, it comes from the institutions that produce it (intergovernmental organisations, central banks, national statistics offices), and the exact institution is named under **Sources**.

### Nature of the analysis

The analyses, interpretations and perspectives in the analytical sections of this article are a **critical, contextual synthesis** based on the information available, the trends observed and the expert comments cited in the sources consulted.

My role is to interpret these facts, to set them in the context of today's geopolitical and economic dynamics, and to give them a coherent meaning within the larger story of the changes shaping our time. These analyses reflect expertise built through continuous observation of international affairs and an understanding of the strategic mechanisms that drive global actors.

This article describes a documented state of affairs on its publication date, not a prediction: later developments may shift its outlook. No update is promised in advance; when an article is corrected or completed, the change is dated in the text.

## Sources

### Primary sources

- [Brussels Signal — Europe's biggest military powers pledge stronger NATO role ahead of Ankara summit — 2026-06-25](https://brusselssignal.eu/2026/06/europes-biggest-military-powers-pledge-stronger-nato-role-ahead-of-ankara-summit/)

- [French diplomacy — European leaders commit to Euro-Atlantic security and the transatlantic bond — 2026-06-26](https://uk.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/european-leaders-commit-euro-atlantic-security-and-transatlantic-bond)

### Secondary sources

- [Swedish Government — Joint declaration from leaders meeting in Gdansk — 2026-06-25](https://regeringen.se/rattsliga-dokument/sveriges-internationella-overenskommelser/2026/06/joint-declaration-from-leaders-meeting-in-Gdansk/)

- [Militarnyi — Germany to Provide Approximately €8.5 Billion in Military Aid to Ukraine in 2026 — 2026-06-28](https://militarnyi.com/en/news/germany-to-provide-approximately-e8-5-billion-in-military-aid-to-ukraine-in-2026/)

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- Euronews — Europe's five largest military powers meet ahead of key NATO summit — 2026-06-24

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Source: Maxime Marquette, MadMax. When citing, name the author and link https://mad-max.co/en/article/reportage-le-sommet-e5-de-berlin-les-cinq-puissances-militaires-europeennes-s-un