By Haris Doukas, Mayor of Athens, and Luca Menesini, President of the PES Group in the European Committee of the Regions
Europe is rediscovering the language of security. War on our continent, geopolitical rivalry and a more uncertain international environment are forcing Europeans to rethink how we protect ourselves. Europe needs stronger defence capabilities and the ability to act in a world where peace can no longer be taken for granted. But there is another question we should ask: what makes people feel secure?
For a family struggling with housing costs, security means having a home they can afford. For an older person facing an extreme heatwave, it means knowing their city can protect them. For a young person, it means having a job and a future they can believe in. For a community threatened by floods or wildfires, it means knowing that public authorities are prepared. These concerns are not separate from security. They are part of what makes a society secure.
Europe must therefore broaden its understanding of security. Defence matters, and Europe must be capable of protecting itself. But military capacity alone cannot make societies resilient. Security also depends on affordable housing, reliable energy, strong public services, social cohesion, resilient infrastructure and the ability to withstand climate and economic shocks.
Greece knows this well. Over the past decade, the country has experienced profound economic and social challenges, alongside migration pressures, energy insecurity and increasingly severe climate events. At the same time, European solidarity has made a tangible difference, financing infrastructure and supporting regions and communities. For Greece, Europe is therefore not an abstract project. It is visible in our cities and in people's lives.
That is why the choices now being made about Europe's next long-term budget matter. The European Commission has proposed €131 billion for the European Defence Union, around five times today's level. At the same time, the relative weight of Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy would fall substantially. Europe should spend more on defence, but defence and resilience should not be competing priorities. A tank cannot make a city affordable, just as a defence system cannot protect a neighbourhood from extreme heat.
Cohesion is security, too. Strong regions, functioning public services, resilient cities and economic opportunities strengthen Europe's capacity to withstand crises and our democracies. Across Europe, the far right is turning genuine insecurity into political anger. When people feel they are losing control over their homes, jobs or future, it becomes easier to convince them that democracy and European cooperation are the problem. The answer cannot be to dismiss those fears. It is to make people less insecure.
This is where Europe's cities and regions matter. When a heatwave hits Athens, European climate policy becomes a question of public health. When housing becomes unaffordable, European economic policy becomes a question of whether people can remain in their communities. When a rural region loses population and services, cohesion policy becomes a question of whether that place has a future. Europe becomes real where European decisions meet people's lives.
Cities and regions are should not be treated simply as beneficiaries of decisions taken elsewhere. They are governments in their own right, closest to citizens and often the first to respond when crises occur. Strong local and regional democracy is part of Europe's democratic strength.
This week, 200 Socialist and Progressive local and regional politicians from across Europe are gathering in Athens to make this argument together. They come from different countries and political realities, but share a conviction: a stronger Europe must defend itself while investing in the resilience of the societies it is asking to defend.
“TAKE A STAND,” a new pan-European initiative, is being launched from Athens, inviting local and regional elected representatives, civil society, and citizens to take part in the conversation about Europe’s future.
By adding their signatures, participants will address the European institutions, calling for the development of a new European budget , one that goes far beyond percentages and programmes.
It will be about what Europe chooses to protect.
Our answer is clear: Europe must be capable of defending itself, but it must also protect its people, strengthen its communities and invest in the democratic foundations that hold us together.