EU chief demands ‘European awakening’ on defense

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday said Europe must take the “next leap forward” on defense as it faces threats from an axis of authoritarian powers from Moscow to Tehran.

“The world is as dangerous as it has been for generations and Europe is in the middle of it,” the European Commission president told a Brussels conference.

Von der Leyen pointed to a “new league of authoritarians” including Russia, Iran and North Korea that was looking to “stretch our democracies to breaking point”.

“This is why it is time for the European awakening on defense and security,” she said.

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine was billed at the time as a wake-up call for Europe after decades of underinvestment in its defenses after the Cold War.

The EU has since launched initiatives to ramping up military production.

But more than two years into the war, while Russia has put its economy on a war-footing, the EU is still struggling to meet Ukraine’s needs and build up its own forces.

With Ukraine’s forces increasingly struggling along the front line, there are growing fears that a wider conflict could engulf Europe should Moscow triumph.

“The threat of war may not be imminent but it is not impossible. We should be prepared,” von der Leyen said.

“That starts with the urgent need to rebuild, replenish and transform member states’ armed forces.”

A sense of urgency in Europe has been heightened by the possible return to the White House of an isolationist Donald Trump after US elections in November.

“European sovereignty will never be at the expense of our partners and friends. And it will certainly never affect the importance and the need for our NATO alliance,” von der Leyen said. Brussels last month put forward a 1.5b euro ($1.6b) strategy to step up defense production, but officials say this is not sufficient.

“Is it enough -- no. Do we need more -- yes,” said EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton, who has spearheaded the defense push.

France, Estonia and other countries have pitched the need for a larger program funded by joint borrowing that could rise to 100 billion euros.

But that push has got short shrift from so-called frugal countries led by Germany.

Brussels is to come up with new proposals on defense push by a summit of the bloc’s leaders in June.

Earlier, European Union leaders will meet on Wednesday to discuss stepping up sanctions against Iran after Tehran’s missile and drone attack on Israel. The bloc’s 27 national leaders will hold a summit in Brussels as world powers try to prevent a wider conflict in the Middle East, more than six months into the war between Israel and the

Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas.

For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. Israel has not said how it will respond to Saturday’s attack, but EU leaders have urged it to exercise restraint while signaling their readiness to tighten sanctions on Tehran.

“The EU is ready to take further restrictive measures against Iran, notably in relation to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and missiles,” a draft statement said ahead of the EU summit, which was due to start at 1700 GMT.

The leaders will also “strongly and unequivocally” condemn the Iranian attack, reaffirm their commitment to Israel’s security and call on all sides to prevent further escalation, according to the statement seen by Reuters.

The bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday the EU would prepare to tighten its sanctions against Iran, and EU foreign ministers are due to continue the work on Monday.