Europe's Security Future Hinges on Ukraine's Innovation

In her publication for the Wilfried Martens Centre’s European View, Aliona Hlivco, Founder and CEO of the St James' Foreign Policy Group, sets out a comprehensive strategic framework for integrating Ukraine into Europe’s evolving security architecture. Against a backdrop of rising global instability and growing uncertainty regarding long-term American troop commitments in Europe, the paper argues that continental deterrence requires an immediate, practical evolution. Rather than waiting decades to build new supranational defence institutions from scratch, Europe’s fastest and most reliable path to strategic resilience lies in incorporating Ukraine—the continent’s most battle-hardened nation and a pioneer in modern, multi-domain warfare.

The Technological Engine of Modern Warfare

Central to Hlivco’s analysis is Ukraine’s dramatic transformation into a global leader in military technology and asymmetric warfare. Operating under the intense pressures of a high-intensity war of attrition, Ukraine’s defence technology sector has expanded exponentially, with annual defence spending reflecting over a third of its national GDP. The primary driver of this resilience is Ukraine’s rapid innovation loop, wherein new military technologies are developed, tested under real-time combat conditions, refined, and redeployed at unprecedented speed.

The paper highlights Ukraine’s global leadership in autonomous systems across air, land, sea, and subsea domains, alongside advanced long-range strike platforms and artificial intelligence. By deploying Defence AI for coordinated drone swarms, automated target recognition, and AI-driven intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), Ukrainian forces have effectively counterbalanced Russia's conventional mass with technological precision and tactical agility.

Threat Adaptation and Institutional Realities

However, Hlivco warns against European complacency, noting that Russia has demonstrated formidable strategic adaptability. Moscow’s deployment of fibre-optic, jam-resistant drones and large-scale electronic warfare (EW) capabilities—which have already interfered with European satellite infrastructure—underscores a shared threat environment.

In response, debate in Brussels has intensified, featuring calls from EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius for mutual defence mechanisms and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslav Sikorsky’s proposal for a 'European Legion' composed of Ukrainian veterans. Hlivco emphasises that while building a stand-alone European army would take decades that the continent cannot afford, Europe can overcome immediate structural gaps by integrating Ukraine into emerging security frameworks, such as a proposed European Security Council alongside key partners like the United Kingdom and Norway.

Practical Phasing for European Defence

To operationalise this alignment, the document outlines a two-phase roadmap for integrating Ukrainian capabilities into NATO’s high-readiness forces and European defence posture:

* Immediate Capability Transfer: Ukraine can immediately supply cohorts of technical and tactical experts to NATO and EU partners. These specialists would provide invaluable knowledge transfer in asymmetric warfare, electronic warfare countermeasures, drone swarm strategies, and rapid tech adaptation.

* Post-Ceasefire Force Deployment: Following the end of active hostilities and the establishment of a lasting ceasefire, Ukraine is prepared to deploy 50,000 battle-tested troops directly to NATO’s Eastern flank. This force would significantly reinforce European high-readiness formations, plug critical personnel deficits, and establish Ukraine as a core pillar of European collective deterrence.

Ukraine has definitively transitioned from a recipient of Western security assistance to a vital security provider for the European continent. As future conflicts become increasingly defined by asymmetric, technologically driven warfare, incorporating Ukrainian combat experience, doctrine, and troop strength is not merely an act of solidarity, but an indispensable strategic necessity for Europe's long-term survival.

Read the full piece in The Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies’ latest publication of European View, available here.