Six months into Ukraine war, will European unity hold?

SINCE Russia invaded Ukraine, one of the genuine geopolitical surprises to many has been the stronger-than-expected unity the West has shown against Moscow.

Some seven economics sanctions packages have already been announced by the EU alone, yet with August 24 marking the six-month anniversary of the conflict, greater cracking is showing in the European wall.

It is Hungary which has been the most outspoken outlier so far. Yet behind wider European public statements of support for Ukraine are significant differences between key Western European states such as Germany and France, versus nations on the East of the continent which want to see an even tougher response such as the Nordics, Baltics, and Poland.