BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union (EU) should consider using profits from frozen Russian assets to buy military equipment for Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
“It is time to start discussing using windfall profits from frozen Russian assets to jointly purchase military equipment for Ukraine,” she said in a speech to the European Parliament.
“There is no stronger symbol or better use of this money than making Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live,” she stressed.
Ursula von der Leyen also called for a strengthening of European defense in an unstable geopolitical environment and said the Commission would present proposals for its first European industrial defense strategy in the coming weeks, one of the main objectives of which will be to promote joint acquisitions in the field of defense.
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“Europe should strive to develop and manufacture the next generation of battle-winning operational capabilities,” she said, adding that the bloc should strengthen its defense industrial capacity over the next five years. coming years.
She believes that the intensification of European defense efforts does not reduce the need for the alliance with NATO.
“In fact, a more sovereign Europe, particularly in defense matters, is essential to strengthening NATO,” she said.
(Reporting Andrew Gray, French version Diana Mandiá)
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