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Europe will arm itself. Leaders of the 27 member states gave the green light

by AI | 07.Mar 2025 | Europe in brief AI

Now the five-point proposal from von der Leyen will be clarified by the European Commission in the so-called white paper, which will be published on March 19.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, speaks during a press conference on the defense package at the EU headquarters. Photo: Virginia Mayo/AP/dpa

Leaders of the 27 member states on Thursday evening at the summit in Brussels gave the green light to the plan of arming Europe proposed by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. They moved on to the discussion about Ukraine. In this matter, Hungary announced a veto. Von der Leyen’s plan includes, among others, a loan package of 150 billion euros and allowing member states to increase defense spending outside the EU’s budgetary discipline.

Its element is also the increase in funding for defense projects by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The European Council in the conclusions, which leaders accepted just before 8 p.m., called on the bank to reassess the list of projects that the EIB can finance (currently the bank can only give loans to so-called dual-use investments), and also to increase the amount of available funding in the area of security and defense (today the limit is 8 billion euros).

Now the five-point proposal by von der Leyen will be detailed by the European Commission in the so-called white paper, which will be published on March 19. Matters such as whether European money can be allocated to the production of components under licenses from third countries remain to be resolved. Clarification is also needed on the exclusion of defense spending from budgetary discipline.

Before 8 p.m., leaders moved on to discuss support for Ukraine. Prime Minister Viktor Orban did not agree to these records in the conclusions. One belief prevailed – that either Hungary agrees to these records, or the rest of the countries will adopt them on their own. (06.03.2025)