Two days before a summit aimed at cementing joint action on Ukraine and Europe’s long-term security begins in Brussels, the president stated in a letter presenting the plan to 27 European Union (EU) leaders on Tuesday.
None of us have experienced a clear and present danger in Europe on an scale comparable to that of our adult lives, she wrote.
As US President Donald Trump’s return to power sends a rude wake-up call to European leaders, they are under enormous pressure to increase defense spending.
According to the EC, the joint borrowing will be used to build pan-European capability areas like air and missile defense, artillery systems, missiles and ammunition, drones and anti-drone systems, as well as to address other requirements related to cyber- and military mobility.
In addition to the overall financing effort, Von der Leyen’s proposal calls for a new joint EU borrowing of 150 billion euros ($158 billion) to be used to finance EU governments’ defense expenditures. She did not provide a precise time frame, but she stated that spending should be increased “urgently now but also over a longer period of time over this decade.”
Von der Leyen wrote that “Europe is ready to assume its responsibilities.” “We will keep collaborating closely with NATO partners.” Europe is in a moment of this. And we’re prepared to take a bigger step.
Trump’s ongoing dispute with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week led to the announcement, which came hours after the announcement. Trump has also stated that no NATO member, not even the US, currently spends 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.
Countries in the EU have relied on the US nuclear umbrella in the midst of a slow economy for years to spend a lot of money on defense. With the new proposal, EU member states would be forced to significantly increase their military budgets, which are below 2 percent of GDP.
Source: Aljazeera
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