Shorouk Express
« The biggest change in the fundamental reorientation is going on across the Atlantic: a rethinking that has shaken the transatlantic relationship to its foundation, » Kallas said, adding: « These developments put a severe strain on the international norms, rules and institutions enforcing them that we have built over 80 years. The risk of a full-blown return to coercive power politics, spheres of influence and a world where might makes right, is very real. »
She did underline that « The U.S. will remain Europe’s partner and ally, » but added: « Europe needs to adapt to the new realities. Europe is no longer Washington’s primary center of gravity. »
That’s why the EU has signed defense cooperation deals with nine countries — the most recent being with India this week. The bloc « must also turbocharge our collaboration with the selected like-minded partners, » Kallas said.
The EU also has to respond by revamping its structures to make coordinated action easier; currently a lot of security action needs unanimous consent, giving pro-Kremlin countries like Hungary a veto. « It cannot be that the one country’s veto defines the policy for others, » Kallas said.
EU countries will also have to spend more on defense and better coordinate their procurement to avoid wasting money, Kubilius warned. He called the recently approved €150 billion loans-for-weapons Security Action for Europe program a « big bang, » but noted that the bulk of defense spending remains with national capitals.
« Most new money for defense will be national, so the temptation will be to spend only national. That would be a big mistake. That would only increase fragmentation, » Kubilius said, warning that without such an effort, EU countries would continue to undermine their defense potential by buying arms from outside the bloc.
