– The Russian war against Ukraine and its consequences for European and global security in a changing environment represent an existential challenge – the leaders said in a statement during the summit in Brussels.
They called on governments to invest money in concrete projects that should be launched in the first half of 2026 in accordance with the new plan called “Readiness 2030”, prepared by the European Commission.
One of the top priorities will be to establish a defense system against drones to detect, track and disable them, following a series of worrying violations of European airspace over the past month, some of which occurred near Europe’s borders with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
The leaders said that due to the response to the most urgent needs and threats, the first projects should be aimed at building anti-drone and anti-aircraft defense capacities and at the full use of EU funds for this purpose.
The European Commission estimates that the total spending on defense in the EU this year will amount to around 392 billion euros, almost twice as much as four years ago, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The main goal of the “Readiness 2030” plan is to encourage member countries to decide which of them will take the lead in certain projects and to launch them in the first six months of the following year.
At least 40 percent of military purchases should be jointly implemented, which would reduce costs and encourage interoperability of weapons and standards by the end of 2027.
Projects, contracts and financing of “key capacities”, such as drones or satellites, would have to be concluded by the end of 2028, while the entire process should be finalized two years later, reports AP.
(Vijesti.ba / Fena)
