At a Special European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday 6 March, the leaders of the twenty-seven countries of the European Union pledged to accelerate defence spending and investment in the light of the new international context. This is marked by the Russian threat on Europe’s doorstep and by the US saying it will no longer guarantee security in Europe (see EUROPE B13593A2).
In their conclusions, the EU heads of state or government called on the European Commission to finalise its...