The EU arms race begins. Borrell: “Vulnerable and inadequate military supplies”

Europe must do more on arms. EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell said without too many words and with all due respect for pacifists, during his speech at the annual conference of the European Defense Agency: “Support for Ukraine highlighted that our military stocks are vulnerable and inadequate, while our supply chain is not ready enough. We are better than before in military spending, but still not enough, especially in cooperation between EU countries, and for that, we need to face the immediate risks and we need to spend more together”.

“Last year – continued Borrell – defense spending in Europe reached 214 billion, with an increase of 6% compared to the previous year and since 2014 we have started to increase spending. However, in relation to GDP, this value represents about 1.5%. The increase in military spending is uneven, with some Member States increasing their spending by 20%, in some cases up to 40%, but the average increase is 6%”.

The EU representative spoke about the war between Russia and Ukraine and the possible developments: “Ten months after the start of the tragic invasion of Ukraine, we see that Russia is systematically bombing all critical infrastructure. She tried to take the territory, but was repulsed. So now it’s just tearing the country apart, bombing everything that works, especially the electricity and water infrastructure to leave millions of people out in the cold and in the dark. Russia’s strategy – concluded Borrell – can be considered a war crime because it targets the population, without fighting any army. In this context, our priority is to support Ukraine with weapons, ammunition, soldier training, military and financial support.”