At European Conference, Leo Varadkar Frames Crisis as Opportunity

At the recent European Conference at Harvard Kennedy School, Carr-Ryan Center Senior Fellow and former Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar delivered a keynote that framed Europe’s present turmoil not as a prelude to decline but as an opening for renewal.

Moderated by Carr-Ryan Center Faculty Director Mathias Risse, the event was part of the 12^th annual European Conference, a gathering of over 750 students, scholars, and policymakers. In a keynote well-aligned with this year’s theme of “Crisis as Catalyst: Europe’s Opportunity in a Changing World Order,” the former Irish prime minister argued that the continent is being forced, at last, to confront strategic realities it long postponed.

Varadkar described a Europe shaken from two directions. From the east came Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ending what he called years of European complacency and appeasement. From the west came a fraying transatlantic relationship, marked by uncertainty over America’s commitment to NATO, the imposition of tariffs on European goods, and a growing sense that democratic allies are no longer being treated as strategic equals.

The result, he said, is a new and dangerous in-between.

“Europe is not at war with Russia, but we’re not at peace either,” Varadkar told the audience, pointing to cyberattacks, election interference, drones crossing European airspace, and Russian ships surveying undersea cables. “All of these things are hybrid warfare.”

Yet Varadkar, a committed European integrationist, returned repeatedly to the idea that the European Union has historically risen to moments of crisis. “There have been huge challenges like Brexit, like COVID, like Ukraine, but I think Europe, as clunky and imperfect as it is, rises to crises,” he said.

He framed the European project first and foremost as a peace endeavor.

“Above all, I see the European Union and European integration as a peace project,” Varadkar said. “We shouldn’t forget that before the European Union was founded, France and Germany went to war three times over the course of seventy years and took the rest of Europe into war with them. The European Union ultimately ended that. Instead of going to war with each other, the big countries in Europe decided to work together.”

"Above all, I see the European Union and European integration as a peace project."

For smaller nations like Ireland, he argued, membership has meant more than economic opportunity. It has brought political agency, allowing countries once tethered to powerful neighbors to participate directly in shaping Europe’s future rather than reacting to decisions made elsewhere.

From there, Varadkar traced how today’s crises are accelerating a new phase of European integration. Defense is the most uncomfortable example. He spoke candidly of his distaste for soaring military budgets, noting that money spent on missiles could instead be used for housing, education, or scientific research. But he was blunt about necessity. Europe can no longer rely fully on American guarantees, and Russia’s aggression leaves little alternative but rearmament. Even traditionally neutral countries like Ireland, he noted, are increasing defense spending and deepening cooperation through European security frameworks.

Trade is another front. As Washington pulls back from globalization, Varadkar said, Brussels is moving in the opposite direction, forging new agreements with Latin America and India in a bid to preserve Europe’s role as a global economic anchor and counterweight to rising geopolitical blocs.

He also pointed to a growing reckoning over competitiveness. European leaders, he said, now openly acknowledge that the continent has fallen behind the United States and China in growth. Whether that recognition translates into reform remains uncertain, but the conversation has shifted. So has Europe’s posture toward technology companies, with rising public pressure to regulate algorithms and protect young people online, which Varadkar described as essential to restoring fairness to the digital public square.

Democracy itself loomed large in his remarks. Varadkar warned of backsliding in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, citing restrictions on LGBTQI rights and civil liberties, and described efforts within the Union to build what he called a democracy shield. He predicted that stalled enlargement could soon restart, with countries in the Western Balkans and beyond finally offered clearer paths to membership.

Making aspirant nations wait too long, he cautioned, risks pushing them away from Europe altogether.

Throughout, Varadkar returned to the same refrain: crisis can clarify priorities. The current strain in transatlantic relations, he suggested, may ultimately force Europe to take greater responsibility for its own defense, revive enlargement, and forge a more equal partnership with the United States. A continent of 350 million people with an economy comparable to America’s, he argued, should not assume permanent dependence.

For smaller nations especially, he reframed integration not as a surrender of authority but as its fulfillment. “Being part of the European Union allowed us to become sovereign in a way that we weren’t previously,” Varadkar said, speaking of Ireland. “And for small countries, alliances, confederations like the European Union in many ways vindicate our sovereignty in a way that wouldn’t be the case if we were on our own.”

Europe did not choose this moment, he made clear. But it can choose how to respond to it. The shocks from east and west, Varadkar suggested, may yet serve as the catalyst that pushes the Union toward greater coherence, deeper integration, and a more confident role in the world.