James Rothwell wrote in Munich:
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined a four-point EU plan to strengthen Europe's defenses, learn lessons from the Ukrainian battlefield and reduce its dependence on the United States.
“The European Union must, without question, strengthen its industrial base,” he told a panel at the Munich Security Conference. “Four points basically – we need to spend more and we will spend more money – [there was] Last year it increased by 20%, but it's still not enough. ”
“We must increase joint procurement, increase scale and improve spending,” she added. “The third element I think is that we have to spend more in Europe. What I mean is that we are investing billions of European taxpayers' dollars, We want a return on investment and good jobs in Europe.”
“The fourth point is to look more at what is happening in Ukraine. In Ukraine, we are learning a lot on the battlefield. Russia has surpassed Ukraine, displacing thousands of people, We are sacrificing young people.”
The war has also revealed how Russia relies on “ready-to-act” weapons such as drones made by North Korea and other Russian allies, she said.
“In a nutshell, I am convinced that I am a transatlanticist, but at the same time we need to build a strong Europe, and that goes hand in hand.”