On Wednesday 19 February, Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, said that it was necessary to spend more on defence to have the respect of the Americans, “our friends”.
“If you want respect from the United States, you have to spend money on defence. If we spend, if we are militarily relevant, we will be partners you can count on”, he explained when presenting the priorities of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council to the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET).
Mr Sikorski stressed the need to strengthen the security and resilience of the European Union and its partners.
Security is the watchword of the Polish Presidency, in a number of areas, notably in its external dimension, which involves maximising support for Ukraine and ensuring a permanent and just peace so that Russia cannot resume its attacks. “Russia understands the language of force. The agreement will only be valid if Russia sees the others as strong. That’s why we need a militarily strong Europe”, he explained.
With his country set to spend 4.7% of its GDP on defence in 2025, Mr Sikorski reiterated the need to spend more money on defence. “The ‘strategic compass’, geopolitical Europe - there are lots of good slogans, but what counts is money. There is no such thing as low-cost defence, we have to find funds”, insisted the Minister, citing either increased contributions, the use of unused funds, common debt or the idea of a rearmament bank (see EUROPE 13574/1).
Leading MEPs call for emergency measures. Following the meeting with Mr Sikorski, the Chair of the Parliament’s AFET Committee, David McAllister, the Chair of the delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee, Pekka Toveri, the Chair of the delegation for relations with the United States, Brando Benifei, the Chair of the delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, Ville Niinistö, and the AFET standing rapporteur on Ukraine, Michael Gahler, the standing rapporteur on the United States, Michał Szczerba, and the standing rapporteur on Russia, Sandra Kalniete, called on European leaders to urgently adopt “bold, brave, and comprehensive political, security, and financial measures to ensure that future of Europe will be shaped in Europe”.
“Europe’s security architecture cannot be discussed without the active involvement of the EU and its member states”, they stress in a joint statement, recalling that the support provided by the EU and its Member States to Ukraine “exceeds that of any other country, reflecting the Union’s unparalleled commitment to Ukraine’s defence and resilience and, consequently, to the security of Europe”.
“The EU’s role in any negotiations impacting the security of Europe must therefore be commensurate with its political and economic weight”, they also argue.
In their view, the latest geopolitical developments show that Europeans can no longer fully rely on the United States to defend their shared values and interests. They therefore believe that the EU and the Member States must take their defence and security into their own hands, and that this requires urgent measures to increase military spending and preparedness.
To see the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/fkx
The Europeans are continuing their consultations. Following a meeting on Monday with a number of European and NATO leaders (see EUROPE 13581/1), French President, Emmanuel Macron, organised a new meeting in hybrid format on Wednesday afternoon with European leaders (Luxembourg, Romania, Lithuania, Cyprus, Finland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia and the Czech Republic) and Canadian leaders to discuss Ukraine and European security.
For his part, while he has no plans for the time being to organise an extraordinary summit, the President of the European Council, António Costa, has launched a “systematic and structured” process of consultations with the leaders, “based on issues centred around two themes: EU support for Ukraine and security guarantees”, explained an EU official.
The decision on the next steps will be taken on the basis of these consultations. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)