Europe is faced with a well-known and uncomfortable truth: the European Union lacks the political, institutional, and financial cohesion and strength to respond with the determination and ambition necessary to meet the existential challenge posed by an unprecedented coalition of illiberal and nationalist regimes, and big tech, especially American and Chinese. It is necessary to equip ourselves for a battle that must first be won within the EU, because the enemies of democracy, individual rights, peace, and the creation of a new, more sustainable and equitable economy are growing stronger within the EU, where they act, in spite of their nationalist agenda from the right but also from the left, as emissaries of Trump and Putin.

It is not just a question of defense in the military sense of the term and the adequacy of NATO. On the contrary. Rearming at full speed and individually, perhaps supporting national companies competing with each other on the same devices with huge public funds, leaving social and climate policies aside, will not make us more autonomous or safer. The EU is much stronger than its enemies would have us believe and does not need 27 armies armed to the teeth to prove it.

This is the context in which Zelensky's mission to meet several European leaders and today's visit  Rome is taking place. Prime Minister Meloni maintains an ambiguous position and remains tied to her right-wing nationalist political culture. This leads her to insist on the need to keep the two sides of the Atlantic united in their support for Kyiv, but at the same time, in the name of an “Atlanticism” close to Trump's vision, she actively hinders the cohesion and autonomy of the European Union. She does so by supporting policies that weaken European institutions, focus on national rearmament, call into question the ecological transition and the values of inclusion and integration, and reduce the space for action by the free press and civil society, both in Italy and in Europe.

This is the reality behind the cordial and empathetic relationship that our prime minister has managed to create with most European and international leaders, whether illiberal, autocratic, or democratic. That is why, while supporting and recognizing Italy's consistency in its support for Kyiv, it is necessary to insist that Trump's USA is a dangerous adversary and not an ally. That continuing to bow down and hope not to make him an enemy is absolutely useless. One of the many things Trump and Putin have in common is that they only recognize the logic of power relations. And it is a serious mistake to think that giving in to Trump's current demands will serve to block others. Experience tells us otherwise. It is absolutely necessary for the Italian government to stop being the pillar of Trump and the big tech companies that are pushing hard to review and dismantle laws that defend our citizens and businesses, from digital regulations to those on energy transition and rights.

Since it is not certain that the government will radically change course, there is a lot of work to be done by the opposition, including building a convincing and attractive alternative in time for the next elections.

First of all, we need to completely reverse the intergovernmental drift of the EU and return to involving pro-European parties and social movements in the battle for a true European federation; this will certainly involve the abolition of national vetoes and greater involvement of the European Parliament, but also the strengthening of the instruments of citizen participation and deliberation that have proven to work, but which have been delegitimized and wasted by the actions of national governments and the distraction of the European Commission, starting with the Conference on the Future of Europe and European citizens' initiatives.

We are not talking about hot air. Only active citizen participation, capable of bringing the debate on the future of a free and united Europe in all its diversity back to the forefront, can prevent it from drifting under the combined pressure of big business interests and anti-European forces. This is a crucial point: today, there are few democracies that guarantee freedom, participation, and an open and pluralistic society, and the European Union is still the most important among them.

Secondly, it is necessary to make clear, with concrete data and figures, the difference between a genuine European defense and national rearmament, perhaps accompanied by the reintroduction of compulsory or voluntary conscription without first conducting any serious assessment of how to organize an effective defense in terms of human and material resources. This involves pooling not only weapons, but also cyber expertise, intelligence, new technologies, which could be much less expensive than what we are told every day, and solid instruments of diplomatic and civic action.This is absolutely fundamental because the dominant narrative is to confuse the urgency of helping Ukraine with the medium- to long-term project of reviewing European deterrence capabilities, simply multiplying resources to arm ourselves at the national level, perhaps by buying American weapons, in the illusion of keeping Trump happy.

Thirdly, we need to re-legitimize the role of the EU as the bearer of a sustainable economic, social, and energy model that can count on real energy independence, based on renewables, energy efficiency, storage, and far removed from fossil fuels and nuclear power, which by their very nature are in the hands of large centralized companies that collude with the most ideologically eco-skeptical political forces.

These choices are difficult, but can no longer be avoided. We need to quickly build a strong alliance between politics, business, workers, local administrators, and civil society to resist and overturn the current balance of power and political majorities, which are ultimately based primarily on money. This is true in Europe as well as at the national level. As a famous Russian opposition figure said to those who asked him for advice on how to resist the authoritarian wave: we must act while we still can. After that, it will be too late.

Monica Frassoni,

Brussels, December 9, 2025