Time.news – The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense of the Twenty-seven States of the European Union approved the new European Defense strategy which has as its pivot the constitution of a military force of about 5,000 soldiers, to intervene in cases similar to the evacuation of the Kabul airport, and an increase in military spending to be able to carry out military interventions independently by 2025.
“It is not the answer to the war in Ukraine, but it is part of the answer”, explained the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, at the end of the Council. “When we started working, we could not imagine that at the last moment of approval the situation would be so serious and that Europe would have to face such a great challenge”, he added.
We have worked on the Strategic Compass for two years.
Its purpose is to guide the development of the EU security and defence agenda for the next decade to deal with the full range of threats and challenges we face. #EUDefence #DOhttps://t.co/dAkYeL0lHV pic.twitter.com/mmHtmd8K56
– Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) March 21, 2022
“The EU is not sufficiently equipped to face the current threats and challenges”, reads the preamble in the document approved today, officially called Strategic Compass. And to equip itself, it is proposed to use the tactical groups created in 2007 to build this reaction force of 5 soldiers, increase military spending (today at 1.5%) and coordinate it better to avoid duplication.
The strength of the 5,000 soldiers will have “land, air and sea components” and will be equipped with means of transport to be able to “carry out rescue and evacuation of European citizens” trapped in the conflicts.
“The current hostile environment requires a qualitative leap. The Compass offers us an ambitious action plan for greater EU security and defense for the next decade”, reiterated Borrell. In this way, the EU equips itself with an “ambitious action plan” to strengthen its security and defense policy between now and 2030 with specific objectives and deadlines, and to have greater capacity to act and collaborate with its partner to safeguard its values and interests.
The EU is convinced that with greater strength and capacity in the military field it will be able “contribute positively to global and transatlantic security”, in complementarity with NATO which “continues to be the basis of the collective defense of its members”.
In addition, the EU will be capable of deploying 200 fully equipped Common Security and Defense Policy (PSDC) mission experts, even in complex environments, as well as regularly conducting exercises on land and at sea. Military mobility will be improved and the civilian and military missions and operations of the PSDC will be strengthened by promoting faster and more flexible decision-making, ensuring greater financial solidarity.
La Bussola also plans to establish a cyber defense policy, a set of tools to stop manipulation and interference with information from abroaddevelop a space strategy for security and defense and strengthen the role of the EU in maritime security.
To meet these demands, Member States pledge to substantially increase their defense spending and strengthen Europe’s technological and industrial base. To this end, the EU will provide greater incentives to member states to collaborate in capacity building and invest together, including with a view to filling strategic gaps and reducing technological and industrial dependencies.
The current hostile environment requires a quantum leap forward. With EU Foreign and Defence Ministers, we just approved the Strategic Compass.
The Compass gives us an ambitious plan for action for a stronger EU security and defence for the next decade. https://t.co/UZcI9V5irg
– Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) March 21, 2022
“Today the military spending of all European states is around 200 billion euros, 1.5% of GDP. It was down until 2014, even fast, then it started growing up to 1.5%. But we need to invest more. And I’m sure everyone will understand that if we want to push defense innovation to be better able to deal with situations like the one we are facing now in Ukraine, we need capacity. And with 1.5% of GDP that’s not enough, “explained Borrell.
“We must spend more and we must spend better. Better means avoiding duplication and avoiding gaps. We are working now to study these gaps in depth, where they are. Where we do not have the tools and means to react and what we lack and what we have two or three times that it is not effective “, explained the head of European diplomacy.
“The two hundred billion is more or less four times the military expenditure of Russia, all together we spend about four times the time of Russia but certainly not the same efficiency”, underlined the Spanish diplomat. “Two hundred billion is China’s military spending, all together we spend more than China, but certainly twenty-seven different parts are not the same thing as a single integrated military structure”, concluded Borrell.