The European Union aims to significantly strengthen its arms production and military capabilities in the next decade. According to the TASS agency, this was stated by the European Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius, at a military conference. The strategic goal of the EU is to spend approximately seven trillion euros on arms production over ten years.

Kubilius stated that Europe must surpass Russia in production, innovation, and firepower. According to him, member states will invest approximately seven trillion euros in the coming decade, in accordance with their commitments to NATO, which is a planned increase in defense spending to up to five percent of GDP.

"We must pay the price for peace to avoid the price of war," said the European Commissioner. He emphasized that, according to Brussels, a massive strengthening of the defense industry is necessary not only due to the current security situation, but also as a prevention of future conflict.

The new defense logic should also include the full integration of Ukraine into the emerging European defense union. Kubilius called for the integration of Ukraine into the EU's military market and for linking the European defense industry with Ukrainian production into a broader military-industrial complex.

At the same time, he criticized the current approach of European armies and arms companies, which, according to him, often produce expensive and difficult-to-scale products. He described these as a kind of "haute couture" in defense. Instead, Europe should focus on weapons that can be quickly produced, quickly repaired, and continuously innovated.

As an example, he cited the drones used in the war in Ukraine. He believes that these drones demonstrate that modern warfare requires flexibility, rapid production, and the ability to immediately respond to changes on the battlefield.

gnews.cz - GH