Four Years Later: Ukraine, Europe, and the True Test of Our Character

Four years ago, in the early hours of February 24, the unthinkable became real.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. War returned to Europe.

What began as an act of aggression has become something larger:

a test not only of military endurance, but of political will, moral clarity, and collective character.

What many of us believed belonged to history books — territorial aggression, artillery against cities, mass graves, deportations — became part of our present.

Four years later, the greatest danger is not only destruction.

It is indifference.

It is fatigue.

It is the slow erosion of principle.

History does not only judge nations by their victories.

It judges them by what they are willing to defend — and what they are willing to abandon.

It Could Have Been Us

When I spoke at a manifestation one year after the invasion, I returned to a simple and uncomfortable truth:

It could have been us.

It could have been our children in shelters.

It could have been our cities reduced to rubble.

That remains true today.

This war is not a regional dispute. It is a test of principles:

• the sovereignty of states

• the inviolability of borders

• the right of democracies to exist without submitting to violence

Ukraine’s struggle is not abstract. It is fought in trenches, in power grids, in drone factories, and in classrooms.

It is also fought in our parliaments, in our budgets, and in our willingness to stand firm.

From World Order to World Disorder

Recent weeks have introduced a deeper unease.

There is talk of “peace in our time.”

Negotiations conducted over the head of the invaded.

A blurring of responsibility.

History is rarely kind to such moments.

Munich in 1938 promised peace.

Yalta in 1944 divided Europe.

The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939 sealed the fate of nations without their consent.

History does not repeat mechanically.

But it rhymes.

A “peace” without security guarantees is not peace.

It is a pause. A reset. A prelude.

The Battlefield and the Reality

The reality, however, is more complex than headlines suggest.

Russia has not achieved its objectives.

Kyiv did not fall.

The Ukrainian state did not collapse.

Ukraine has adapted. Drone production is scaling rapidly. Innovation compensates for numerical disadvantage. The war has become technological as much as territorial.

Russia, for its part, carries an enormous economic burden. Military expenditures consume a vast share of public spending. Inflation is high. Financial buffers are shrinking.

Wars of attrition are decided not only by ammunition — but by endurance.

History reminds us: in the long run, economic resilience matters as much as battlefield advances.

Europe’s Moment

This is Europe’s test.

We can no longer assume that others will indefinitely guarantee our security.

We cannot take alliance cohesion for granted.

We cannot outsource strategic responsibility.

Europe must shoulder more.

That means:

• sustained military support for Ukraine

• increased defense spending

• sanctions that have real effect

• serious consideration of using frozen Russian assets for reconstruction

This is not about militarism.

It is about recognizing that the price of appeasement is always higher than the price of resolve.

The War Is Also About Us

I was born in 1972. I grew up believing Europe had moved beyond its darkest chapters. The wars in the former Yugoslavia shattered that illusion. The invasion of Ukraine erased it entirely.

Freedom is not a condition.

It is a responsibility.

If we take it for granted, we lose it.

Ukrainians have demonstrated a determination few of us have ever had to summon. They have paid in blood. The least we can do is carry our share in policy, in budgets, and in political courage.

What Is at Stake

The stated aim from Moscow is to address the “root causes” of the conflict — language that in practice challenges the entire European security architecture built after 1991.

If aggression succeeds in Ukraine, the calculus changes elsewhere.

In the Baltic region.

In Moldova.

In Taiwan.

This is not only Ukraine’s war.

It is a stress test of the rules-based order that has given Europe decades of relative peace.

A Peace Worth the Name

The goal must be a sustainable peace.

A peace with credible security guarantees.

A peace that does not reward aggression.

It will require resources.

But the alternative will require more.

European countries will likely need to move beyond symbolic defense commitments and rebuild credible deterrence. At the same time, Ukraine will need long-term support — militarily, financially, and institutionally.

This is not alarmism. It is realism.

Four Years Have Passed 

Ukraine stands.

Europe has awakened — though not yet fully risen.

The world is more uncertain than it has been in decades.

But moments like this do not only test armies.

They test character.

Whether we are willing to defend freedom when it is costly.

Whether we are capable of long-term responsibility in a short-term political culture.

Whether we understand that peace without justice is merely delay.

It could have been us.

People like us.

That is why it concerns us.

That is why it defines us.

Slava Ukraini.

Mathias Knutsson