“Reinforcing Europe’s defence is an urgent and monumental task”, declared former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in Brussels on Thursday 14 November, as he presented his recent report on the EU’s civil and defence preparedness to MEPs.
The report’s recommendations were generally well received in the European Parliament, despite criticism from far-right MEPs about respect for national defence prerogatives (see EUROPE B13515A1).
Sauli Niinistö said that after years of...