The European Commissioner for Defense and Space, Andrius Kubilius, urged the European Union (EU) last week to expand the item dedicated to strengthening the military industry in its next multiannual budget (2028-2034) to mainly address the threat of Russia, which assured it will go beyond the current conflict in Ukraine.
“The stress over Russia will not be over after 2025, whatever happens in Ukraine, whether there is a ceasefire or not,” Kubelius said during an appearance before the Defense Subcommittee of the European Parliament.
Although he acknowledged that in security matters it is necessary to maintain a 360-degree angle of vision, he stated that “Russia is definitely the biggest threat, and will remain so for quite some time.”
Kubelius, in office since December 1, has committed to presenting in the first hundred days of his mandate a “white paper” (non-legislative document) in which he defines “measures that we have to implement in the EU to be prepared in the face of extreme military contingencies,” he said.
“To speak more directly, it means being ready for the possibility of Russian aggression against any member of the European Union or NATO,” he said.
In fact, in statements to the media the European commissioner specified that he wants the EU’s next seven-year budget to allocate “not far” from 100 billion euros to defense. It would be an enormous increase, which he described as “ambitious”, since they currently have 10 billion euros from 2021, of which 8.5 billion finance the European Defense Fund and 1.5 billion to the industry, he explained.
The commissioner made it clear that the EU’s defense strategy must take into account threats in different time frames, the most urgent being that from Russia, as indicated by intelligence reports from different countries, including Germany, he recalled, which warn that before At the end of this decade, Russia would be prepared to undertake military aggression against EU or NATO countries.
