“The Plans to Turn Europe Into a New Superpower” looks like a 1996 Philadelphia Trumpet article or a 1956 Plain Truth article, but it’s a 2026 article in one of Britain’s biggest news outlets.

“At an emergency summit of European Union leaders in Brussels, the building blocks of an empire were beginning to take shape,” the Telegraph stated yesterday.

The lengthy article reported that European elites want to build a “bigger, richer, stronger ‘super Europe,’” resort to a “multispeed Europe,” bring in the Balkans, transfer more power to a central authority, and even form “an EU army (sort of).”

It sounded fantastical when Herbert W. Armstrong wrote about it a lifetime ago, but “a United States of Europe” is forming in real time right now.

Last week, the EU emergency summit discussed a common strategy to “resist the whims of the globe’s autocrats—[the U.S. and China]” (ibid).

• Some EU leaders are looking to build this superpower by staking claim to more nations in the Balkans, as well as Ukraine, Iceland and others.

While the EU expands its influence and discusses expanding its list of members—or at least its territory—at the same time, it is looking to have fewer nations call the shots. It is unwieldy to have so many nations, all retaining most of their sovereignty and requiring unanimous agreement. But the Telegraph reports:

There’s a new appetite to move forward on important matters in smaller groups of member states if necessary.

Unanimous decisions are out of fashion, with more and more being taken by a vote, with a majority vote, weighted by population.

In other words, Germany, France and Italy determine the EU’s course while smaller countries are forced to submit.

This would make Europe a de facto empire with subject nations.

Prophecy says: The EU may frame its plans as an attempt to expand membership, secure stability, and ensure peace, but Bible prophecy reveals this empire is preparing for war.

Europe has been accustomed to past empires, where one Vatican-endorsed nation exerts its influence over others. Most recently, Adolf Hitler tried to build an empire, calling it the Third Reich. That empire subjugated Yugoslavia to prevent the Soviet Union from using it to outflank Germany. After betraying Russia, Hitler invaded Ukraine to gain more resources and manpower, while using it is a launching pad into the Soviet Union’s core.

The Trumpet has long forecast that the European Union will shrink to 10 nations or groups of nations; the current trend toward expansion does not change that. There may be a main European superstate that has a wider range of influence over subject nations: an empire.

The final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire is forming. This time, Germany has conquered much of Europe already through peaceful means. Soon Europe will be powerful and unified enough—under a German strongman—to project power against foreign nations.