DM Monitoring
BRUSSELS: European Union leaders agreed on Monday to do more to bolster their defences against Russia and other threats by hiking spending and filling gaps in their military capabilities.
“A lot has been done already but we need to do more. We need to do it better, stronger, faster – and we need to do it together,” Antonio Costa, the president of the European Council of EU leaders, said after a summit on defence in Brussels.
However, the leaders left largely unanswered the question of how their planned surge in defence spending would be paid for.
European countries have already ramped up defence spending in recent years, in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and a growing view that they cannot rely so much on the United States to protect the continent in years to come.
Portugal Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and French President Emmanuel Macron greet each other as they attend an informal European Union leaders summit at Palais d’Egmont in Brussels, Belgium February 3, 2025.
Their efforts have been fuelled by questions about US President Donald Trump’s commitment to the NATO security alliance and by his demands for European nations to spend more on the continent’s defences.
The start of the EU summit was overshadowed by Trump declaring at the weekend that he will soon impose tariffs on imports from the EU, having ordered similar measures on goods from Canada and Mexico – which were paused on Monday – and from China.
The EU leaders agreed to focus on filling critical gaps in their defences such as air and missile defence, missiles, ammunition and military transport, Costa told reporters.
