It’s been well over a month now, and counting. Russia’s military aggressions in Ukraine continue apace. Confronted with unexpectedly fierce (and successful!) Ukrainian resistance, Vladimir Putin has added civilian terror as a new strategic element to his war, hoping that this will be the way he can finally break Ukraine. I fear that the brutal murder of uninvolved and unarmed civilians by Russian soldiers in Bucha near Kyiv is only the beginning of further war crimes for which Putin is personally accountable.

It goes without saying that Europe needs to provide shelter for all those fleeing the country and step up humanitarian support for all citizens that have been displaced in Ukraine: so far, 4 million and 7 million respectively. Europe must also demonstrate further solidarity with Ukraine, and this should also extend to significant provisions of military equipment. The only way that Russia can be stopped is with sufficient solidarity towards Ukraine and sanctions that hit Putin hard.

As Europe, as the EU, we need to stick together, show solidarity towards each other, and evaluate our own defence and deterrence capabilities and capacities: for our own security. This has become particularly clear to me during my visits in recent weeks to our member unions LVIPUFDA in Latvia, RJPS in Lithuania and WZZ F-O in Poland. Eastern European Member States are in need of our support and security assurance, and we need them in the EU. We must strengthen our bonds at all levels. Demonstrating this was also one of the purposes of these visits to our friends at LVIPUFDA, RJPS and WZZ-F-O.

To shed some light on the new geopolitical challenges we are facing, CESI recently hosted a public European Defence Round Table (ERDT). Based on a resolution that CESI’s statutory Expert Commission Defence had adopted in advance, it made clear: NATO is not obsolete; its (nuclear) deterrence is the basis for Russia not displaying aggression towards its territories. Moreover, the EU cannot entirely rely on the USA for its own defence in the long run; it needs to develop its joint defence capabilities significantly more, as a fully-fledged European Defence Union (EDU). And more military spending will be necessary to achieve this, – but money spent in the military must be spent wisely.

After all, Europe faces multiple challenges alongside security and defence which require significant investment, including on social equality and performing public services for citizens and business. And welcoming and integrating Ukrainians refugees into our welfare, education and public health systems will cost money, at least in the short run.

Ultimately, every Euro can only be spent once. For us as unions and workers, it is essential that public spending is carefully balanced. Support for Ukraine and Ukrainians as well as our own security are important – but so is climate protection, digitalisation, the provision of quality public services and so on.

And what will sanctions, what will a military re-focus, what will a “wartime economy” mean for us as a society, as citizens, as consumers, as workers? With the war ongoing, a further problematic dimension is beginning to bite for workers. Sanctions against Russia are starting to have a serious effect on public finances and the purchasing power of citizen-workers and citizen-consumers: notably, inflation increases for core expenditure items such as energy and foodstuffs, which hit lower and medium income households particularly hard.

On Friday, April 8, at a CESI@home on energy inflation organised for our members, we explored this issue in greater depth. Workers and consumers must not bear the indirect costs of the war in Ukraine. They must be protected from excessive adverse financial impacts, and substantial public relief measures will be needed. The state, public authorities and we as unions and social partners need to work together and come up with solutions.

Failing to do so would not only be unfair and endanger the living standards that workers have been working hard to acquire. It could also quickly yield a further divide of our societies, and even social unrest. To prevent this from happening is also our responsibility as trade unions.

Despite the manifold challenges we face, we continue to remain hopeful: hopeful because we stand united. Hopeful because we offer support and solidarity – This is our DNA. And hopeful because humanity will and must prevail.

I wish you all a Happy Easter and pleasant times with your families and friends. Take care of yourselves!