Antonio Costa calls for more efforts in strengthening EU's defense

EU needs to assume greater responsibility for its own defense, strategic autonomy, and sovereignty to preserve peace, European Council President Antonio Costa said at the European Parliament plenary session, Report informs.

This is why, according to Costa, since 2014, and especially after 2022, the member states have been increasing their budgets for defense.

“Today, the twenty-three Member States that are also NATO allies, all together are expected to be spending above 2% for defense investment,” he stressed.

“We have also taken major efforts together during the last years. We are implementing with determination the Strategic Compass. We fully use the new tools we have to ramp up our ammunition production and to acquire the most urgent and critical defense products,” Costa said.

The EC president noted that there is an overall sense of urgency and a strategic purpose among EU countries: “We are on the right track to build the Europe of Defence. That sense of urgency and purpose has led me to invite European leaders for an informal meeting on defense on the third of February.”

“This is the very first time the European leaders will get together in a meeting exclusively dedicated to defense to prepare the ground for the next decisions we will have to take, and to provide political guidance for the white paper on defense being prepared by the European Commission and the High Representative,” he added.