Quotes
Europe faces a choice: either increase troop numbers significantly by more than 300,000 to make up for the fragmented nature of national militaries, or find ways to rapidly enhance military coordination,
Bruegel said
The way they go about it is intensely political, so we wouldn’t prescribe any way of changing this — whether to go for conscription, elective conscription, bigger reserves,
a senior NATO official said on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to brief journalists unless he remained unnamed
If Ukraine loses the war or if it accepts the terms of peace, armistice or capitulation … then, without a doubt — and we can all agree on that — Poland will find itself in a much more difficult geopolitical situation,
Tusk warned lawmakers last weekWe do stress the point that fighting with those regional plans means that we are in collective defense and likely in an attrition war that requires way more manpower than we currently have, or we designed our force models to deliver,
he addedRussia is an existential threat to the Union and given its past record of invading its neighbours and its current expansionist policies, the need to deter from Russian armed aggression will remain even after a just and lasting peace agreement with Ukraine,
the draft says
Without significant additional military resources, particularly now that the US has suspended its support, Ukraine would not be able to negotiate a just and lasting peace from a position of strength,
the paper saysMember States are responsible for their armed forces — from doctrine development to deployment,
the paper saysRebuilding European defence requires a massive investment over a sustained period,
the draft saysEurope cannot take the US security guarantee for granted and must substantially step up its contribution to preserve NATO.”
The shift in U.S. policy toward Ukraine, Europe and NATO is noted throughout the 20-page document, which statesThere is a strong case for closing these capability gaps in a collaborative manner,
the draft paper says
This year, because we have introduced a new horizontal security and defence policy by decision of the board, we are not setting limits on the amount, which means we are responsive as to how many of these projects will come up,
Teresa Czerwinska said during a press conference in Warsaw
As of today, in terms of security and defence... we already have 14 investment projects that we are considering,
she saidSpeaking about security and defence, of course it is important for all member states of the European Union, but we realise that it is important primarily for border countries, that is the so-called eastern flank,
she saidThe Netherlands is not in favour of Eurobonds, of more common debt ... because it’s not a solution in the long term,
finance minister Eelco Heinen said
There are a lot fewer frugals now,
one EU official remarked to a group of journalists on the sidelines of last week’s summitThe time of illusions is now over, ... We are facing a crisis of European security, but we know that it is in crisis that Europe has always been built.”
Ms von der Leyen told the European Parliament, after earlier telling MEPsWhat Germany is very open to, and what we have supported explicitly, is whenever there are true European projects in the defence area to also think about common financing,
he saidWe are calling for the defense industry to no longer be treated as just another industry,
France’s Sébastien Lecornu told reporters Wednesday, speaking after a meeting with defense ministers of the so-called E5 format in Paris
The European Commission has a role to play here,
he added, addressing Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, who was also present at the gatheringWe want to deregulate, at a European level, but also in our nation states,
Germany’s Boris Pistorius doubled down ... he said