Thanks to Trump and Putin, Europe needs to rearm quickly. But can it catch up fast enough?

The golden leafage halls of Paris's Luxembourg Palace person witnessed countless stirring moments of oratory successful the astir 200 years that it has hosted French senators and different parliamentarians, but the infinitesimal that stands retired of precocious belongs to Claude Malhuret and his incendiary takedown of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Malhuret, a 75-year-old doc and lawyer who erstwhile headed Médecins Sans Frontières, made headlines astir the satellite successful March with an eight-minute code that was translated and racked up tens of millions of views connected societal media.

It eviscerated the U.S. president, calling him a "traitor" to the West and a menace to European security. 

"Trump's connection is that determination is nary constituent successful being his state due to the fact that helium volition not support you," boomed Malhuert from the ornate chamber. "He volition enforce higher tariffs connected you than his enemies and volition endanger to prehend your territories."

"Europe is lasting alone," he said as helium called connected the continent to accelerate subject assistance to Ukraine to assistance it repel Russia's penetration and to rapidly physique up Europe's armies to compensate for Trump's disinterest.

In the weeks since giving that speech, subject and information developments connected the continent person moved astatine a dizzying pace. And portion Malhuret's dependable was but 1 of galore making specified arguments, helium told CBC News helium takes immoderate comfortableness that his words mightiness person helped motivate the largest rearmament programme Europe has seen successful decades.

"Europeans are emerging from denial," he told CBC News successful a caller interrogation astatine Luxembourg Palace.  

"The connection for the French radical [is] very simple. We volition astir apt person to support Ukraine ourselves. And the 2nd connection is that the Atlantic Alliance is successful large danger," helium said.

Earlier this week, Trump — again — falsely accused Ukraine of starting the warfare with Russia and continued to importune President Vladimir Putin wants bid adjacent arsenic Russia's bombardment of Ukrainian cities has increased.

First steps

While European leaders proceed to propulsion to alteration Trump's mind, they person besides taken large steps to rearm.

The European Union says it plans to rise an contiguous 150 cardinal euros ($236 cardinal Cdn) for corporate defence. Separately, galore countries person announced their ain measures.

WATCH | EU projected program to assistance Ukraine and rearm Europe:

Poland says it plans to make an service of fractional a cardinal soldiers. 

France says it intends to physique a caller procreation of craft carriers and has begun talks astir perchance extending its atomic umbrella implicit different countries. 

Germany has unlocked hundreds of billions of euros for caller infrastructure, much of which could beryllium channeled toward defence.  

And Britain, no longer successful the European Union but inactive keen to show broader leadership, is boosting defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, the largest specified summation successful 4 decades.

Big gaps

Despite the flurry of announcements, a caller study is underscoring the world of conscionable however hard it volition beryllium for European countries to wean themselves disconnected of American subject mightiness and exertion — and to bash it quickly.

The study by the Brussels-based Bruegel think-tank underscores that determination are immense gaps successful defence accumulation capabilities that indispensable beryllium overcome.  

Notably, it says Europe suffers from a paucity of precocious defence technologies.    

For example, portion the U.S. has ramped up wide accumulation of its fifth-generation F-35 fighter, European factories are inactive churning retired fourth-generation European planes.

It besides says nationalist rivalries are sapping Europe's quality to wide nutrient apical prime systems.  

Whereas the U.S. focuses its energies connected producing a azygous main conflict vessel (the M1 Abrams), Europe produces seven, with each state prioritizing their ain home-produced model.

One of the authors of the study told CBC News "procurement nationalism," oregon favouring products produced successful their location markets, is holding backmost Europe's rearming project.

"Step No. 1 is that we indispensable usage the economies of standard that the immense European marketplace has," said Armin Steinbach, a non-resident chap astatine Bruegel. 

"That helps to standard up accumulation successful a overmuch much businesslike and little costly way."

WATCH | Could Canada's defence enactment displacement to Europe?:

Steinbach's radical is proposing a caller pan-European defence money — the "European Defence Mechanism" — to facilitate the associated procurement.

In theory, helium says non-European countries, including Canada, could lend to the money and besides payment from it by collaborating connected perchance hundreds of billions of dollars successful caller subject projects.

"We are alert that Canada is simply a state that is besides successful a infinitesimal of reorientation, fixed what's going connected successful the U.S.," said Steinbach.

European defence ministers considered the Bruegel connection for the archetypal clip past week, calling it a bully starting point.

French optimism

On a caller travel to France, CBC News spoke with respective elder European officials engaged with the rearmament effort who stay optimistic that they tin execute the hard pivot connected defence procurements that's needed.

"What we privation to physique is simply a European Union that relies connected itself regarding its security," France's erstwhile premier curate Gabriel Attal told CBC News.

Attal was premier curate for 9 months from January to September 2024, before his Renaissance Party mislaid powerfulness aft President Emmanuel Macron called a drawback predetermination to effort to fend disconnected a surge from the far-right.

He remains an elected subordinate of France's Parliament and there's wide speculation that helium could basal for the presidency successful 2027.

"Our imaginativeness is to put mode much successful our nationalist budgets connected defence, to bargain European and from European defence industries and to physique immoderate benignant of a European compass regarding our defence," helium said.

Svenja Hahn, a German subordinate of Europe's Parliament representing the left-leaning Free Democratic Party, said she believes the information situation posed by Trump and Putin volition assistance absorption minds connected overcoming the corporate challenges.

"If we bash not privation to beryllium overrun by the bullies of the world, we truly person to go a 3rd superpower [after China and the U.S.]," she told CBC News astatine a forum successful Paris.

Tough timing

While caller combatant jets, tanks and blase rocket defence systems tin instrumentality galore years — adjacent decades — to make and produce, Europe whitethorn beryllium capable to determination faster ramping up defences successful different areas, notably drones. 

"Its a immense priority," said Rafael Loss, a chap with the European Council connected Foreign Relations successful Berlin.

"The Ukrainians are showing you tin person a ample accumulation basal without needfully enormously extended timelines for production."

He besides said the lasting armies of astir European nations astatine the infinitesimal are excessively small, yet they tin beryllium bolstered done caller recruitment and grooming comparatively quickly. 

While the Bruegel study doesn't specifically acceptable a deadline for Europe to ramp up its ain rearmament, Loss says planners are apt considering respective cardinal timelines.

"One is with the [duration] of the Trump presidency; the different is Vladimir Putin's lifespan," helium told CBC News.

In different words, helium says there's an imperative to revamp armies and make caller armaments quickly, arsenic Trump inactive has 3 and fractional much years successful his term. And astatine the aforesaid time, Putin, who's 72, whitethorn besides beryllium inclined to accelerate his ambitions to enlarge Russia's territory by taking implicit neighbouring Baltic nations successful his lifetime.

Loss says the different large determinant connected however overmuch clip Europe has to rearm is the result of the warfare successful Ukraine.

"I deliberation defeating Russia successful Ukraine would minimize the hazard of Russian escalation against European countries."