ANY illusions that the European Union is a force for peace in the world, or even on its own doorstep, vanished on the final day of the Munich Security Conference. 

Convened in great luxury in the Bayerische Hof Hotel, dozens of new cold warriors heard Estonian premier Kaja Kallas propose that the EU collectively buy artillery munitions for Ukraine and, in lockstep, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell gave it the imprimatur of the EU hierarchy.

The significance of this stand lies not in the talk about ramping up production — which is presently insufficient to meet Ukraine’s demands and the delivery of which is further threatened by the collapsing US consensus about supply — but in the fuller integration of the EU into the Nato war-fighting strategy.