European Union: We do not want "Ukraine 2.0"

^{Photo: Alexey Vitvitsky/SNA/imago images}
The European Union is holding an informal defense summit on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine and amid uncertainty over its future relationship with the United States. On Monday, February 3, EU heads of state and government, as well as the EU leadership and NATO secretary general, met in Brussels to informally discuss the future: how to better protect and secure the European continent.

Russia - a "permanent threat"

While summit participants spoke about internal measures to strengthen the European Union's defense capabilities, the foreign policy issue of Russia's war in Ukraine ran like a red thread through all the discussions.

"We all need to understand that Russia is a threat," Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said ahead of the meeting. "Russia has been and will remain a constant threat to European countries, to the European Union. This is not an opinion, this is a fact," he added. That is why every EU country must be ready to spend more on defense, Orpo said.

Increasing defense spending

Between 2021 and 2024, the total defense spending of European Union member states increased by more than 30 percent. In 2024, it amounted to 326 billion euros, or about 1.9 percent of EU GDP. Some EU and NATO members, such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Luxembourg, are still not spending two percent of their gross domestic product on defense, despite NATO's goal.

"This is a big problem," Kaia Kallas, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said ahead of the summit. "The 2 percent target was set in 2014, so all countries had 10 years to achieve it."

In turn, Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden announced the need to create a "European Defense Union": "Today we are talking about defense, about the need for European defense. We do not want a "Ukraine 2.0" to happen." Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”