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Strengthening defense in Europe/ EU proposes 800 billion euro plan

2025-03-04 10:51:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Strengthening defense in Europe/ EU proposes 800 billion euro plan

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed today an 800 billion euro plan to strengthen EU countries' defenses to lessen the impact of potential US disengagement and give Ukraine the military muscle to negotiate with Russia after the US freeze on aid.

Von der Leyen said the massive "REARM Europe" package would be put to the 27 EU leaders, who will meet in Brussels on Thursday in an emergency meeting after a week of growing political uncertainty from Washington, where President Donald Trump questioned his alliance with the continent and the defense of Ukraine.

"I don't need to describe the grave nature of the threats we face," von der Leyen said.

Key to the EU countries' problem has been their unwillingness to spend heavily on defense over the past decades, as they hid under the US nuclear umbrella and a sluggish economy, which creates challenges for a rapid increase in such spending.

Von der Leyen said the first task is to ease the fiscal constraints the EU places on budget spending to allow member states to significantly increase their defense spending, without triggering punitive rules aimed at keeping deficits from going too far into the red. /CNA 





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