‘War on our doorstep’: Eastern Europe fears for the future

Europe has been plunged into a situation it thought it would never see again, with several nations taking steps to up military spending in a move that is likely to transform the balance between guns and butter. Borzou Daragahi is in Bucharest, where people are terrified about what Russia will do next

Ukrainian refugees arrive via ferry in Romania on Tuesday (AFP via Getty Images)

In less than two weeks, the world has changed, and a new darkness has gripped Europe. From the Baltic Sea to the Balkans, political and military leaders are reckoning with a reality transformed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And societies are only beginning to come to terms with the wide-ranging implications. The Kremlin’s ferocious assault on the country has upended assumptions about security and stability, as well as Europe’s future, that have been widely embraced since the chaos that ensued in the first years following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“People are scared,” says George Scutaru, a former national security adviser and member of parliament in Romania, who now heads a think tank in Bucharest. “It’s something totally new to have this huge war on your border, to have this rhetoric, and to see thousands of people coming with only a few things on their persons and hoping to see their family again.”