Russia is posing an existential threat to the European Union’s security and to only way to address that is to increase spending on defence, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday, adding that the EU had for too long offered Russia alternatives.
“Russia poses an existential threat to our security today, tomorrow and for as long as we underinvest in our defence,” she said during a speech at the annual conference of the European Defence Agency (EDA).
“People say I’m a ‘Russia hawk’. I think I’m simply realistic about Russia,” Kallas said.
Kallas, one of EU’s most vocal opponents to Russian President Vladimir Putin, also acknowledged U.S. President Donald Trump was right in saying that EU members don’t spend enough on defence.
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“Time is not on Russia’s side. But it’s not necessarily on ours either. Because we are not yet doing enough. There should be no doubt in any of our minds that we must spend more to prevent war. But we also need to prepare for war,” Kallas said.
I agree that Russia is a danger. But it’s also obvious to me that Europe can’t rely on the US any longer. There’s no other option than to increase our defence, but we should not remain dependent on US weapons in the long run. We must build our own weapons (Trump only wants to increase NATO budgets to get Europe to buy more American weapons, he leans way too much to Putin). Not only that, but we most definitely also need an “IT army” that tracks foreign intervention on social media and prevents hacking. We should make sure we err on the safe side, regardless of a GDP percentage. It’s very sad that this is needed to survive and I hope that one day, we can do without and spent our money on scientific research and improving wealth. It’s time for Europe to stand up and lead the free world now!