EU foreign ministers discuss defense and Ukraine military aid
The EU foreign ministers gathered yesterday in Brussels to discuss the defense of the continent, ahead of new proposals from the Commission that will be presented on Wednesday, just before the Thursday summit on March 20.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s chief diplomat, proposed a new plan for countries to send up to 40 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine this year. This plan should not be confused with the “ReArm Europe” strategy presented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier this month.
Kallas’ plan, discussed by the EU foreign ministers, which proposes a “coalition of the brave” arrangement, is essentially a rhetorical technique to bypass a possible Hungarian or Slovak veto.
Of course, diplomats did not expect a decision on specific details today, nor are they likely to have one at Thursday’s upcoming European summit in Brussels.
As this critical week for European security begins, it is becoming increasingly clear that a new East-West divide is emerging in Europe. Countries on the front lines of the Ukrainian conflict – the Baltic states, the Nordics, and Poland – are willing to pool resources for defense, while more distant nations like Portugal, Spain, and Italy remain far more hesitant.
Other countries, including major ones like France, are grappling with the budgetary implications of rising defense expenditures.
Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez countered the main argument in an interview with the Financial Times, asserting that cybersecurity and climate change mitigation efforts should be part of defense spending.
In a similar vein, French President Emmanuel Macron argued that Europeans should stop buying American weapons. He suggested that those purchasing American-made Patriot missile defense systems should instead be offered the next generation of a similar Franco-Italian device, and that Europeans should prioritize buying French Rafale fighter jets over American F-35s.
Following a series of tense meetings last week, EU countries agreed to renew sanctions against Russia ahead of the deadline, but only after bowing to Hungary’s demands to remove four Russian citizens from the blacklist.
In terms of transatlantic engagement, German National Security Advisor Jens Plötner, French President Macron’s diplomatic advisor Emmanuel Bonne, and their British counterpart Jonathan Powell met with U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz at the White House on Friday, although the details of their meeting have not yet been disclosed.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
