Europe must boost defense spending to support Ukraine – Latvian PM
Photo: Evika Siliņa, Prime Minister of Latvia (Getty Images)
European countries need to increase their defense spending. Otherwise, they will be unable to help Ukraine defend against Russia's invasion, stated Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa ahead of an informal meeting of EU leaders in Brussels.
She noted that European countries currently spend 1.9% of their GDP on defense, but this figure can be increased. There are various tools available to boost defense funding.
Siliņa emphasized that Europe must find ways to finance this because it is essential not only for Ukraine but also for Europe. She stressed that without higher defense spending, European nations will not be able to provide adequate support to Ukraine.
Additionally, Siliņa pointed out that for long-term planning, it is important to send a signal to the industry so it knows how much Europe intends to spend and the scale of future orders.
She added that Europe is helping Ukraine, but this support cannot be expanded unless the capacity of European industries is increased.
"And we have capabilities in Europe as well," the Latvian Prime Minister added.
European assistance to Ukraine
The issue of European aid to Ukraine became very relevant after Donald Trump became President of the United States. Trump almost immediately suspended aid to other countries, including Ukraine, for 90 days.
EU Diplomacy Chief Kaja Kallas assured that if the US did not want to show leadership in helping Ukraine, Europe would do so.
She also assured that Europe would allocate 1.5 billion euros in budgetary aid to Ukraine every month.
