Speaking at the 2025 Copenhagen Democracy Summit, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas emphasized the critical importance of hard defence in protecting democracies, referencing Georgia's experience during the 2008 war with Russia.

“Democracies need hard defence. Treaties alone never guarantee peace. Georgia learned this in 2008,” Kallas stated, drawing a broader lesson from Russia’s repeated aggression in the region.

She cited Ukraine’s ongoing struggle as further evidence: “Ukraine learned this in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea, and again through three years of full-scale invasion. Strength deters aggressors. Weakness invites them in.”

Kallas argued that the only way to stop Russia’s historical pattern of attacking democracies is through strength—military, economic, and political. “The strongest security guarantee is a strong Ukraine,” she said, firmly rejecting the idea of another Budapest Memorandum-style agreement, which lacked enforceable security guarantees. “Words alone are never enough.”

She underscored the European Union’s commitment to Ukraine, noting that EU member states remain the largest contributors to Ukraine’s military defense. Any lasting peace, she insisted, must include robust security guarantees for Kyiv.

Addressing the impact of Western pressure, Kallas pointed out that Russia’s request for sanctions relief shows that current measures are effective. “They wouldn’t be asking if the sanctions weren’t working,” she concluded.