Europe urgently needs to rearm and member states must be given the fiscal space to carry out a surge in defense spending, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday after a Ukraine support summit in London.
Von der Leyen added that Europe also needed to show the United States that it was ready to defend democracy.
“After a long time of underinvestment, it is now of utmost importance to step up the defense investment for a prolonged period of time,” she told reporters after the meeting in London.
She added: “Member states need more fiscal space to do a surge in defense spending.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters after the talks that some European leaders had privately set out new plans on defense spending behind the summit’s closed doors.
But Rutte declined to give details, saying it was for individual leaders to set them out.
NATO has been often criticized by U.S. President Donald Trump for its lackluster 2% defense spending baseline.
Europe’s most powerful leaders have descended on London over the weekend to take part in a key summit on Sunday.
Expanding the defense spending budget was expected to be one of the main talking points at the meeting, along with discussing potential peace solutions to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“After a long time of underinvestment, it is now of utmost importance to step up the defense investment for a prolonged period of time,” she told reporters after the meeting in London.
She added: “Member states need more fiscal space to do a surge in defense spending.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters after the talks that some European leaders had privately set out new plans on defense spending behind the summit’s closed doors.
But Rutte declined to give details, saying it was for individual leaders to set them out.
NATO has been often criticized by U.S. President Donald Trump for its lackluster 2% defense spending baseline.
Europe’s most powerful leaders have descended on London over the weekend to take part in a key summit on Sunday.
Expanding the defense spending budget was expected to be one of the main talking points at the meeting, along with discussing potential peace solutions to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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