EU defense lacks strength to deter adversaries, leaders warned at summit
Military experts warned that Europe's current defense capabilities and planned enhancements are insufficient to deter its military adversaries.
European defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius stressed that times had fundamentally changed for the European Union, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
At the European Defence Summit on June 10, a host of military experts addressed the many challenges Europe was facing, ranging from rebuilding its shrunken armies and rebalancing its relations with the US and within NATO.
“We need to put aside our peacetime glasses”, Kubilius said.
“We must be ready for defence, in all the different domains: In industrial capacity, in readiness of public finances to pay for what is needed, and there should be no obstacles for cooperation between the EU and NATO.”
Kubilius highlighted the need for European investments to focus on joint procurement, pooling resources and combining markets and reducing dependencies from abroad.
“If we want peace in Europe, we need to be ready to be independent,” he said.
Kubilius called peace in Europe “our strategic responsibility” and said it was impossible to achieve without independent defence readiness.
He noted an increased aggressiveness from Russia and a “forthcoming American withdrawal from Europe”, as the US was changing its focus towards the East and the Pacific.
Kubilius noted that, at the moment, European deterrence was not sufficient.
He referred to a European White Paper on Defence and the ReArm Europe plan as a guideline for the industry to reach European defence readiness by 203o. He also emphasised the need for drones and satellites, products that featured military and civilian dual use, such as intelligence and navigation.
Kubilius further expanded on the need for “space readiness”, including missiles and satellites.
“Space is a new frontier. Materially and politically, we need to be in space,” he said.
As a final issue, the Commissioner noted that infrastructure needed to be adjusted to serve the military adequately.
Roads, bridges and tunnels all needed to be adjusted where needed for heavy equipment, such as artillery and tanks, to be easily moved to places where they were needed.
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