Elon Musk: Europe’s Frenemy
Europe can’t quit Elon Musk even though it wants to
Ukraine’s military leader Oleksandr Syrskyi looked annoyed. Also angry. And deeply frustrated. Elon Musk, the owner of Starlink, had just threatened to cut off Ukraine’s internet. Ukraine’s soldiers would be devastated, Musk had declared.
Syrskyi knew that his troops relied heavily on Starlink—for communicating, operating their drones, and tracking enemy movements. All of these would vanish if Musk decided to turn off Starlink’s internet connection. Syrskyi could do precious little to hit back at the bully - this tech mogul who threatened to yank his lifeline when he was busy fighting a war.
Every week, on the Lighter Side, I pick one interesting news story and write about it. This week’s story mirrors Aesop’s fables - the ant and the grasshopper. Remember the story where the ants work hard and the grasshopper parties during summer. Winter comes. The grasshopper starves.
For decades, Europe played grasshopper—sipping espresso while America built space tech, defense systems, and Starlink. Now winter’s here (Ukraine war, Trump and Musk’s tantrums, general chaos). Suddenly, everyone’s scrambling to be ants.
This week’s story isn’t about war or space-tech or the internet. It’s about why preparation by an ant beats panicked improvisation by a grasshopper.
A Quick War Recap of the Ukraine war
The US and Europe had been Ukraine’s best friends, soon after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Picture a tug-of-war:
Ukraine + Europe + US on one side.
Russia (plus Iran and North Korea) on the other.
Then Donald Trump became US president again. He took one look at the rope, shrugged, and said, "Nah. I don’t want to hold any part of this rope!" Europe gasped. America was the heavyweight on their team—if it walked away, the rope was definitely going to slide over to the Russian side, and everybody was going to suddenly topple over and fall down. So the Ukrainian President Zelensky figured that he had to somehow win Trump over to his side, to keep them all from face-planting in the mud.
Zelensky’s Very Productive Visit to Trump
In February 2025, Ukraine’s Zelensky visited Trump. The conversation went something like this.
Zelensky: "We’ve got precious minerals! We’ll share them with you if you keep supporting us"
Trump (gleefully rubbing hands): "Deal! Sign these papers. Give us rights to your precious minerals. In the meanwhile, also, stop fighting? Do you agree to a ceasefire?"
Zelensky: "Sure. We are bored with this war too. But if we give up our precious minerals, what do we get in return? Can you get Russia to stop fighting for now? Will YOU help us if Russia attacks again, later? "
Trump (chin-rubbing intensifies): "Eh… no promises. Just hand over the shiny rocks."
Zelensky: "Hard pass. Bye."
And so, Ukraine walked away.
Enter Elon Musk
Elon Musk, Trump’s fanboy and friend, decided to spice things up. A few days after Ukraine walked away from signing the deal, Musk decided that HE was going to try and persuade Ukraine to sign the deal.
He threatened Ukraine over social media with this tweet: "Ukraine’s entire front line of soldiers and defense would collapse if I turned off Starlink."
Seeing this, one of Poland’s ministers was quite miffed. You see, Poland has been paying Starlink for its internet services covering Ukraine (along with a few other countries). So he decided to remind Elon Musk that if Musk chose to turn off Starlink, he was also losing out on some big fat revenues. And so, Poland’s minister wrote on his social media handle, ‘Starlink for Ukraine is paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year. If Starlink proves to be an unreliable provider, we will be forced to look for other suppliers’
Musk got all angry and he wrote back, ‘Be quiet, small man. You pay a part of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.’
Europe and Ukraine got angrier and went around looking for another internet provider. Musk, realizing his tantrum might cost him money, quickly backpedaled: "To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals."
For now, the internet stays on in Ukraine. But Europe is sweating. They do not want to rely on a mercurial billionaire’s mood swings.
Why can’t Ukraine find another source for its internet support?
Ukraine’s pre-war internet ran on big fat cables and wires that criss-cross the earth. You may recognise what I am talking about from the wi-fi routers you have in your homes. Our routers are connected to cables like these. Ukraine was no different till 2022. That’s when Russia invaded them. During the course of the war, Russia blew up some of these cables and internet access was gone in many parts of Ukraine.
Soon after this happened, one enterprising minister in Ukraine reached out to Elon Musk, in 2022. He requested Musk to help them with internet services through his company’s Starlink network. Starlink is nothing but a group of satellites that circle the earth and provide internet connection. Phones and computers directly beam onto Starlink’s satellites floating in space and this lets them access the internet. Russia wasn’t exactly bombing space, so this was a good alternative for Ukraine to get its internet up and running. Musk agreed to help Ukraine in 2022, and Starlink became their primary internet service provider. At first, homes, schools and offices in Ukraine used Starlink.
Soon after, soldiers in Ukraine found that communicating using Starlink was quick and reliable. This helped them plan and strategise their actions on the ground better. This also helped them operate drones in the battleground efficiently.
Are there no other satellite internet providers that Ukraine can turn to?
Their best option is a European company called Eutelsat. This company also offers satellite based internet. However, they have launched to-date… 700 satellites. Starlink has 7,000 floating around earth. The quality and speed of Starlink’s connectivity with 7000 satellites cannot be matched by Eutelsat’s 700. As much as Eutelsat wants to step in and help Ukraine, the company cannot simply magic up thousands of satellites overnight. Launching new satellites takes years and piles of cash.
Starlink was able to launch thousands of them, a few years ago, because the US government supported companies developing new space technologies. Plus, it had one very rich man also funding it. Eutelsat does not have any such generous donor. European governments could have pooled their resources and developed their own satellite-based internet company earlier, but they didn’t.
The Ukraine war has been a rude wake-up call for Europe. The last three decades have gone by with Europe hardly investing in space technology. Now, it is all too late.
That is why Mr.Musk is both their friend and enemy. Their internet depends on a man who tweets first, thinks never.
Podcast to listen to
The Padmaja Naidu Zoological Park in Darjeeling is a place where snow leopards yawn, tourists sip overpriced lemonade, and absolutely nothing unexpected ever happens.
Until now.
This zoo has unveiled a brand-new section! But don’t get too excited—it won’t have any living creatures. Nope. No tigers, no bears, not even a disgruntled monkey. Instead, it will showcase something wildly fascinating related to wildlife.
I shared this vague teaser with a 13-year-old named Sathwik, who then spent six whole minutes interrogating me like a detective at a crime scene. “What is it? Is it fossils? Is it just a really sad empty cage?”
To find out what this groundbreaking exhibit actually is, you’ll have to listen to the episode.
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