Europe Not Prepared for a Prolonged War With Russia: Defense Officials

Europe is not prepared to sustain a prolonged war of attrition with Russia, according to defense officials involved in NATO planning, raising questions over whether the continent has the political and military endurance for an extended conflict.

Officials at a Munich Security Conference forum said weak public readiness could force NATO planners to concentrate on scenarios in which a war with Russia is resolved relatively quickly.

Public Readiness Becomes a Strategic Risk

The concern extends beyond weapons and troop numbers.

Officials said European governments had failed to prepare voters for the scale of the security challenge, leaving ministers with the difficult task of demanding higher defense spending from publics already resistant to cuts elsewhere.

One recent British cabinet member said the West had been “crap” at educating the public about the extent of the hybrid conflict with Russia, according to The Guardian.

“The level of the debate has been at that of a kindergarten,” one U.K. diplomat said.

The criticism has been sharpened by the British government’s failure to act on a recommendation in its 2025 strategic defense review for a national debate on security threats and resilience.

Hybrid Warfare Raises Pressure

European officials also fear Russia is weakening the continent through hybrid warfare before any conventional conflict begins.

A diplomat at the forum said Moscow was exploiting political and economic grievances across both the left and right.

The rise of populist parties in major European states is adding to concerns over whether governments could sustain support for a prolonged confrontation.

The issue was described at the conference as “the elephant in the room.”

Germany this week blamed Russia for an attempted drone attack on Leipzig airport last month, adding urgency to concerns over operations below the threshold of conventional warfare.

Italy has also warned of growing interference.

Foreign minister Antonio Tajani said the country was facing daily cyber-attacks and could be vulnerable to Russian interference in its next national election.

“There are many ways to wage hybrid warfare; it is not done using bombs, planes or tanks,” Tajani said.

Europe Looks to Reduce U.S. Dependence

The warnings come as Washington considers troop deployment changes that could leave European states with greater responsibility for their conventional defense.

The Munich Security Conference has backed closer coordination among five major European military powers, including the U.K.

The E5 defense ministers already meet regularly, but joint procurement remains at an early stage.

Priorities include integrated air and missile defense, deep precision strike and space-based early-warning systems, capabilities still provided largely by the U.S.

“Europe is stagnating at a time when the external threats were assuming a dimension which is really very serious,” said Wolfgang Ischinger, chair of the MSC.

Ukraine is also increasingly seen as a source of lessons for modern warfare. It is producing about 200,000 drones a month and aims to manufacture more than 7 million by 2026.