Europe must quickly be ready to compensate for the upcoming withdrawal of US equipment or forces that were previously intended for the defense of the continent, warned European Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, quoted by Agence France-Presse, writes BTA.
"America will redirect capabilities, in particular material capabilities, to other regions of the world. And we must be prepared,” he said in a speech to an audience of industry and defense officials in Brussels.
And that withdrawal “could happen soon,” Kubilius added.
Donald Trump’s United States has repeatedly warned its European allies that they must take greater responsibility for the defense of their continent. They confirmed this position last week by announcing that they would review their military presence within six months, during a meeting of NATO defense ministers.
“Today, however, Europe depends very much on the United States for strategic assets such as air refueling or space reconnaissance,” Kubilius pointed out. Without them, “we will be weaker in our defense, weaker in our deterrence,” risking Russia coming to “test” European response capabilities, he warned.
Kubilius estimated the cost to Europeans of such a strengthening of these strategic capabilities at around 500 billion euros.
Such an amount can only come from EU member states, he said. The European Commission has proposed to allocate 131 billion euros for defense in the next multiannual budget of the European Union, which covers the period 2028-2034. Member states and the European Parliament are yet to give their consent.
According to the calculations of the European Commissioner for Defense, Europeans will allocate 7,000 billion euros for their defense by 2035, in line with the commitments they have made within NATO.
The countries of the Atlantic Alliance committed themselves last year to allocate at least 5% of their gross domestic product to security spending by 2035.