The European Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius, stated this Friday at the Forum Europa in Brussels that "we must ensure that Putin does not fall into the temptation" of attacking an EU country.
Andrius Kubilius stated this at a briefing organized by the New Economy Forum in the EU capital, during which he discussed the European Union's rearmament plans and the current global geopolitical situation.
Kubilius stressed that "Ukraine is facing brutal aggression" from Russia and noted that "we are also suffering hybrid attacks, which could be followed by military attacks”.
He argued that Russia is building its war machine "at a dizzying pace", and therefore considered that "we need Europe to move from concern to action", and to this end, the Commission "is taking the measures that these dangerous times demand”.
The commissioner cited the warning recently issued by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who explained that in three months Russia produces more ammunition than all NATO member states, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and all EU countries.
Therefore, he maintained that "Putin could be tempted to use that power to test NATO, and the danger is real”.
In this regard, he revealed that intelligence services believe Russia is preparing to challenge NATO's Article 5 by 2030. "In five years or less, Russia could be willing and able to attack one or more countries of the European Union”.
Even if peace were established in Ukraine, he stated, “Russia would continue mass arms production, so we must ensure that Putin doesn't fall into temptation”.
Consequently, he asserted that the EU needs to strengthen its defense industry and demonstrate to Vladimir Putin “that it has the political will, the economic power, and the defense capability to challenge him”.
Over the past three years, the commissioner explained, the European Union has allocated around €50 billion in military support to Ukraine, roughly the same amount as the United States.
“It's a lot of money, but annually it represents less than 0.1% of our GDP”, he noted, and that is why, he added, the White Paper on Defense presented a few days ago “includes Ukraine in the European Union's defense policy strategy”.
“The defense of Ukraine is part of our defense strategy”, he reiterated, recalling that the new secure EU loans offer new opportunities for Member States to support Ukraine.
He also explained that the Commission's proposal advocates promoting the participation of the European Union working group in Ukraine in joint procurement and joint industrial projects.
Along the same lines, he said, work is underway to expand the European Union Innovation Office in Kyiv for defense industrial collaboration, and likewise, "we will boost cooperation with Ukraine in the space sector”.
Kubilius also sought to cite as an example the strategy of Volodymyr Zelensky's government, which has increased its defense industry from a production capacity of €1 billion in 2022 to €35 billion last year.
And following that example, he noted, the Commission's goal now is to implement measures to increase arms spending.
"We must remember that Putin will not be discouraged if we simply read him the White Paper; he will only be discouraged if we translate it into action, if we use it to build real drones, tanks, and artillery for our defense", he added.
The Commissioner stated that "once this security crisis is over, life will not be the same as before the crisis, because Europe will be much stronger in its defense”.
"We will be stronger together with a strong Ukrainian army and with the Ukrainian nation as part of our family, and with peace restored on the European continent", he concluded.
