Munich contemplates the 'end of peaceful times' Inside the halls of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof, the unwanted ghost of Munich’s past — authoritarianism and appeasement — dominated the picture this weekend. None of the conference participants would have wanted to dispute that a heavy feeling – that Europe has reached the end of peaceful times as we’ve known them since the end of World War Two – hung like thick air in the packed Munich corridors. Those were buzzing with the world’s leaders, security officials, and military brass, and most Europeans had one name on their lips: Donald Trump and the new damage he has inflicted on the transatlantic alliance, just as times are getting even more uncertain. Beyond doubt, the core question remained whether current Ukraine support hiccups are fixable – the answer was mainly yes, but only if the West has the political will to act accordingly. For Kyiv, there were no tangible results that could offer any noticeable relief for the outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian troops at the front. The fall of Ukraine’s frontline town Andiivka added to the sense of doom and gloom. There was no indication, at least not beyond the assurances from the large American delegation, that Washington could soon approve the $60 billion aid package currently stuck in the US House of Representatives. Despite public American assurances, it was the comments by US Republicans that drove the conversation in the bars and coffee places inside the venue. The starkest contrast perhaps, was an exchange between two second-tier actors. J.D. Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, argued that the US doesn’t produce sufficient ammunition to support Ukraine and that “what’s reasonable to accomplish is some negotiated peace”. Ricarda Lang, co-chair of Germany’s Green party, rebutted immediately that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has shown he doesn’t want peace. Sure, Europe has gone through a significant transformation over the past two years when it comes to threat perception and coming to terms with the need to deal with a renewed Russian threat. “We have been in a long period of silent disarmament in Europe,” the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said, reflecting on Europe’s change in tack when it comes to defence. Still, not many thought they would see the day when a Green politician adopts a more hawkish stance against Putin than a Republican senator, several participants told me in exasperation. A day earlier, Vance’s fellow Republican Senator Pete Ricketts was booed on stage for comparing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to illegal migration at the US-Mexican border – an improbable link Republicans are increasingly hung up on. “It’s strange, isn’t it? Suddenly, it is we, Europeans, that need to be the moral compass on this issue,” one participant told me over a drink. “When you listen to the speeches, our people were saying all the right things, but the question is whether we will be able to translate that into doing the right things,” they added. Finland’s president-elect Alexander Stubb probably put it best, saying that “this is our 1918, 1945, 1989 moment, of our generation.” | 