EU Defense Chief Urges Stronger Military Capacity
(MENAFN) The armed forces of European NATO states are functioning at merely half the capacity demanded by the alliance, according to a warning issued by the EU’s chief defense representative.
He emphasized the urgent necessity to decrease reliance on American manufacturers to lower the expenses associated with Europe’s defense expansion.
Just a few days following US President Donald Trump’s assertion that the alliance had agreed to acquire a “vast amount” of American arms through a new trade agreement, European Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius emphasized that the EU ought to “spend more on European products.”
During an interview with a news agency published on Tuesday, Kubilius revealed that EU military capabilities currently stand “at 50% of what we need to have now, according to NATO’s targets.”
He highlighted that approximately 40% of EU military budgets continue to be allocated to US-produced weaponry—though that figure has dropped from 60% the previous year.
“Diminishing that number by 10% or 20% means a huge amount of money will stay in the European industry,” Kubilius explained.
“If member states pursue joint procurement, which means larger contracts, the average production price goes down to 70%.”
On Sunday, Trump promoted a unilateral trade arrangement between the US and the EU.
He claimed that under the deal, the bloc would obtain “hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment,” in addition to $750 billion in American energy and $600 billion in investment—while imposing no reciprocal tariffs on US exports.
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