BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for increasing European defense spending and strengthening NATO’s European pillar. "We...
BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for increasing European defense spending and strengthening NATO’s European pillar.
"We agree that we need to strengthen NATO’s European pillar and further increase defense spending," he pointed out at a joint press conference with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Berlin.
The German chancellor also said that EU leaders would discuss issues related to the establishment of a more powerful European defense industry at a summit on February 3. "We need rules that will ease the joint development and procurement of military equipment in the European Union," Scholz stressed.
He also commented on the incidents where underwater cables had suffered damage in the Baltic Sea. "Just yesterday, reports came of damage to another subsea cable," Scholz noted, alleging that "this indicates a threat coming from Russia’s ghost fleet." "NATO’s Baltic Sentry mission will allow us to improve the protection of the Baltic Sea and critical infrastructure on the seabed," the German chancellor concluded.
US President Donald Trump confirmed at a press conference on January 21 that he planned to make sure that NATO allies increased their defense spending to 5% of GDP. Moscow has repeatedly said that NATO’s policy escalates tensions in Europe, increasing the risk of direct confrontation with Russia.
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