EU Defense Commissioner's warning to Union countries: “The US military will not stay in Europe indefinitely”
Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for Defense and Space Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
The European Commissioner for Defense and Space, the Lithuanian Andrius Kubilius, on Thursday urged the EU member states to prepare for the withdrawal of the American troops deployed in Europe, preparation which in his view should involve the increase of armament efforts and the development of space technologies, reports the EFE agency, taken over by Agerpres.
Europe must assume its own defense, and for this it must develop the so-called “European pillar of NATO”, said the European commissioner during a debate in the Slovenian parliament, in Ljubljana.
“The American army will not stay in Europe forever”, believes Andrius Kubilius. “If the Americans begin to reduce their presence, we will also have to find an answer to the question of how we will replace the approximately 100,000 American soldiers who are currently on the European continent and who play a very important strategic role,” he explained.
US, EU and Japan announce strategic partnership on supply of critical minerals
The EU has no rapid troop transport capacity
The European Commissioner recalled in this context that American troops can move very quickly from one European region to another, something that the armies of the 27 EU member states cannot currently achieve. He also emphasized the need to develop the space technology capabilities that the United States currently offers to Europeans.
On the other hand, the same European commissioner estimated that the military aid that the EU intends to provide to Ukraine this year and next year, namely 30 billion euros each year, is not enough to prevent Russia from dominating the battlefield and winning the war.
In the statement about this aid, he strictly referred to the 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine accepted in December by the European leaders and which is to be financed by the issue of common EU debt, but which Ukraine will repay only if Russia pays “war reparations” and will be guaranteed by the EU budget, i.e. by the member states, a loan which will thus more likely be a non-refundable aid offered to Ukraine, since it is difficult to assume that Russia will accept to pay her war reparations.
US, Russia agree in Abu Dhabi to resume high-level military dialogue suspended before Ukraine invasion
Only 24 of the 27 EU member states will guarantee the payment of the loan, after Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia obtained an exemption from participating in the guarantee mechanism of this 90 billion euro loan, 60 billion of which will be used by Ukraine for the purchase of military equipment this year and in 2027. However, apart from this aid, the European states supporting Ukraine can also provide it with military support in another form, such as direct donations or participation in the PURL initiative (the acronym in English for the mechanism “List of Priority Needs for Ukraine”), through which it buys from the US weapons and ammunition intended for the Ukrainian army.
