WHAT WAS THEIR FIRST CLUE? Europe no longer convinced Russia’s war will stop at Ukraine.

With heightened NATO activity in the Baltic states, European Union leaders condemning Russian threats against Latvia and Estonia, and an emergency UN Security Council meeting over the latest Russian actions in Ukraine, a growing number of officials now appear to believe the Kremlin’s ambitions could extend beyond Ukraine.

Even discussions once considered premature – involving European military readiness and a permanent NATO deterrent in member states that border Russia – have moved into the political mainstream.

The result: a deep psychological shift across Europe and a war that began on the EU’s periphery is being seen as a direct challenge to the continent’s future security order.

“A threat against one member state is a threat against our entire Union,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this week.

Should Ukraine fall and Moscow turn further west, no matter what Europe says, most member countries’ actions tell me they’d be happy to let Poland do the bleeding on their behalf.