Callas says EU must increase defense spending to counter Russia threat NATO News
The EU’s top diplomat has said EU members do not spend enough on defence.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Russia poses an existential threat to EU security and the only way to deal with it is to increase defense spending.
Warning of a possible attack by Russia in the coming years, Kallas said the EU had offered Russia alternatives for too long.
The rally in Calais was the latest in an increasingly alarming number of warnings from European officials, who are calling for a “wake up” on defense as Moscow’s tanks arrive in Ukraine in 2022.
“Many of our national intelligence agencies are giving us information that Russia could test the EU’s preparedness to defend itself in three to five years,” he said while addressing the European Defense Agency’s annual conference in Brussels on Wednesday. “
“Russia poses an existential threat to Europe’s security today, tomorrow, and unless we invest less in our defense,” he said.
Kallas also acknowledged that United States President Donald Trump was right in saying that EU members do not spend enough on defence.
Earlier this month, Trump said NATO members should spend 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense – an increase from the current 2 percent target and a level that no NATO country, including the US, currently reaches. Have got.
“The EU’s message to the US is clear. We must do more to protect ourselves and take appropriate responsibility for the security of Europe, Callas said.
EU countries have increased their military budgets since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine. But politicians acknowledge they have to go further as they struggle to match Moscow’s vast military output.
Last month, NATO chief Mark Rutte said Europe would need to “turbo-charge” defense spending and production if it is to prevent Russia from starting a major war in the future.
“Time is not on Russia’s side. But it is not necessary that this is up to us also. Because we’re still not doing enough. There should be no doubt in any of our minds that we will have to spend more to prevent war. But we also need to prepare for war,” Kailas said.
