The EU's planned transformation into a military union is being sold to the public as a response to the protracted Ukrainian Conflict, but it's really a federalist power play that's designed to forever entrench German hegemony over the bloc.

That country has sought to federalize the EU for years already, and despite some notable successes in getting member states to surrender significant parts of their sovereignty to Brussels, it's thus far failed to yield the expected results. This plan might also become more difficult to implement as two new groups have emerged in the European Parliament since the latest elections: the AfD-led "Europe of Sovereign Nations" and the Hungarian-led "Patriots for Europe", both of which are fiercely against federalization.