"Europe Must Rethink Defense as Russian Threat Grows"

French Military Chief Thierry Burkhard "Europe Must Rethink Defense as Russian Threat Grows"

2025-08-04 Source: Press release 1 min Reading Time

With only weeks left in office, General Thierry Burkhard, France’s outgoing Chief of the Defence Staff, issued a sobering warning to European nations in a wide-ranging interview with The Economist. He said Europe must prepare for the real possibility of a Russian military attack within the next five years, citing Moscow’s growing capabilities and battlefield resilience.

In the Economist-interview French General Burkhard attributes the growing danger not only to the combat experience gained by Russian forces during the war in Ukraine, but also to their advantage in arms production and industrial endurance. “The Russians will last five minutes longer than we do,” he warned, underlining Europe’s vulnerability in a protracted conflict. The French general criticized the current overreliance on high-end, expensive weapon systems. While advanced technology has its place, “we will not win a war with Ferraris,” Burkhard said—highlighting the importance of scalable, cost-effective solutions like affordable ammunition and drone swarms.

He also stressed the strategic value of combining drones across all domains—air, sea, and land—as well as adapting to a new era of warfare in which battlefields are “unprecedentedly transparent,” making stealth and surprise harder to achieve. Burkhard’s warning echoes earlier concerns from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who also raised the alarm over a potential Russian offensive as early as 2027. These calls for caution come as many NATO countries reassess their military readiness in the wake of the ongoing Ukraine war.

This article is based on Burkhard’s interview with The Economist published in July 2025. Additional context provided by official NATO statements and European government remarks.

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Date: 08.12.2025

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