European policy practitioners, analysts and experts exchanged views on the strategic tasks of the development of the European defense industry and the military technology development experience of the more than three years of the Russian–Ukrainian war at the international workshop of the John Lukacs Institute organized on September 11, 2025.
At the expert exchange of opinions and experience titled “Aiming at more autonomy in European defense industry – Challenges and opportunities for Central and Eastern Europe”, German, French, Swedish, Polish, Czech and Romanian experts shared their professional assessment, in addition to the broad institutional representation of the Hungarian defense sector, not only of the experience of the past three and a half years, but also of the tasks ahead. Mihai Vladimir Zodian and Zdenek Rod, who currently participate in the work of the JLI as guest researchers, were also involved in the discussion of national lessons learnt.
Conclusions of the workshop reflect that national differences in existing defense industrial capacities, production chains, and research and development opportunities were clearly outlined, which EU and NATO member states, and sometimes third – non-alliance – states, are trying to bring closer together under the auspices of multinational defense industrial cooperation and capability development programs. At the same time, effective cooperation within Europe and the development and unification of the European defense technological and industrial base are made more difficult by external dependencies: primarily defense tasks and functions that have been “outsourced” to the United States for decades, which European allies are unable or only partially able to perform; and the dependencies resulting from related American defense equipment purchases, which European allies are currently unable to immediately replace or substitute. The latter dependency also appears to some extent in relations with other external partners, such as South Korea, Israel. Similarly, cooperation is fragmented along differing threat perceptions across Europe, as well as approaches that prioritize the protection and development of national defense industries, which can limit multinational development, production, and operational collaborations that promise mutual benefits – but also dependencies. The workshop aimed to overcome these limitations and share good practices in cooperation – successfully, according to the feedback from the participating partners.
Text: Tamás Csiki Varga
Photos: Dénes Szilágyi