Russia poses an existential threat to the security of the European Union and the only way to address it is to increase defense spending, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday, adding that The EU had offered other solutions to Russia for too long.
“Russia represents an existential threat to our security today, tomorrow and for as long as we do not invest sufficiently in our defense,” she said in a speech at the annual conference of the European Defense Agency (EDA).
People say I’m a “Russia hawk.” I think I’m just being realistic about Russia,” Ms. Kallas said.
Ms Kallas, one of the EU’s most vocal opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin, also acknowledged that US President Donald Trump was right to say that EU members were not spending enough on defence.
-Mr. Trump said earlier this month that NATO members should spend 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, a significant increase from the current target of 2% and a a level that no NATO country, including the United States, currently achieves.
“Time is not on Russia’s side. But it is not necessarily on ours either. Because we are not yet doing enough. There should be no doubt in our minds that we need to spend more to prevent war. But we must also prepare for war,” Mr. Kallas said.
Belgium
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