The European Union (EU) on Monday approved the constitution of a force of 5,000 fighters and pledged to increase its military spending in order to be able to carry out interventions on its own by 2025.
“The European Union is in danger. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is not rhetoric and constitutes a call to order,” stressed the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.
EU Foreign Ministers and Defense Ministers approved a “strategic compass” developed over the past two years and adapted to the situation created by the war in Ukraine.
“This is a call to action and this document must not remain a dead letter”, insisted Josep Borrell. “The European Union must be determined, rapid in its reaction to crises and it must invest in defense capabilities in complementarity with NATO”, he explained.
Intervention force of 5000 men
The EU will use the Battlegroups created in 2007 to constitute this reaction force of 5,000 soldiers. “The Battlegroups are operational, but they have never been used, for lack of political will and financial means”, deplores the service of external actions of the EU.
The force will be made up of “land, air and maritime components” and equipped with transport capabilities in order to be able to “carry out interventions to save and evacuate European nationals” caught up in a conflict.
This capacity was lacking for the Europeans to replace the Americans during the evacuation of Kabul in August 2021.
Germany wants to form the core of this force in 2025, its Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht announced on Monday.
1.5% of the budget for defense is insufficient
The EU spends 200 billion dollars a year, or 1.5% of its GDP, on defence. “It’s three or four times the budget of Russia and as much as China. But that’s not enough,” said Josep Borrell.
No quantified objective is included in the commitments made by the EU on Monday. But all NATO countries, 21 of which are members of the EU, have pledged to devote 2% of their GDP to military spending in 2024.
Germany, Belgium and Denmark, three countries lagging far behind in this commitment, have announced increases in their budgets.
Drones, tanks, anti-aircraft defense… Investing in missing capabilities
“The EU intends to provide an additional and complementary effort to NATO”, maintained Josep Borrell.
The Europeans want to invest in capabilities they currently lack, including drones, combat systems, tanks, anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense systems.
“The detailed actions are ambitious, but achievable with sustained political commitment,” insists the document. “We will see if we are able to achieve what we have committed to do,” concluded Josep Borrell.