Both NATO and the EU want to spend a €100 billion on defense — and that’s leading to clashes between the two Brussels-based institutions.
The European Union is donning its camouflage pants and flexing its muscles on defense. NATO isn’t happy.
For years, the two Brussels-based institutions have barely communicated when it comes to defense, except for some military cooperation in areas like the Balkans — because they haven’t had to. Defense was NATO’s turf (it is a military alliance, after all), while the EU dealt with trade, farming, climate change and things like standards for heritage cheeses.
It was summed up by a catchphrase popular in military circles: “The U.S. fights, the U.N feeds, the EU funds.”
That’s now changing.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Commission has also presented a European Defence Industrial Strategy alongside a cash pot of at least €1.5 billion, aimed at getting the EU to finally begin punching its weight when it comes to defense.
Spurred by the war in Ukraine and by the potential return to the White House of Donald Trump, the bloc wants its members to start thinking of their own futures when it comes to defense, one in which they don’t rely overly on the United States.
“We need to build such a sustainable financial instrument if European security should be protected” Tomáš Kopečný, the Czech envoy for the reconstruction of Ukraine and a former deputy defense minister, told POLITICO.
In a letter Stoltenberg sent to von der Leyen Jan. 26, seen by POLITICO, he warned “I am concerned about the potential overlap with existing NATO activities,” adding: “In particular, I would be worried if the EU were to move into standard setting for munitions.”
In a February speech, von der Leyen said a “new European defense mindset” would be urgently needed, because “we do not have the control over elections or decisions in other parts of the world.”
“On the day of the invasion, you and I stood side-by-side and delivered a clear message of support for the Ukrainian people,” Stoltenberg recalled, casually omitting the other person who was also on stage at the time — European Council President Charles Michel.
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