EU presidency says Europe must rearm within five years

Brussels: Russia could pose a credible security threat to the European Union by the end of the decade and defence industries in Europe and Ukraine must be ramped up within five years in preparation, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned on Tuesday.

In a speech to the European Parliament marking the launch of Denmark’s six-month term as holder of the EU presidency, Frederiksen lamented that “cutting our defence spending in the past 30 years was a huge mistake.”

European officials have warned that President Vladimir Putin could soon try to test NATO’s Article 5 security guarantee — the pledge that an attack on any one ally would be met with a collective response from all 32. Russia has been accused of acts of sabotage, cyberattacks and fake news campaignsand while Europe is not at war, it is not at peace either, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said.

“Strengthening Europe’s defence industry is an absolute top priority, and we have to be able to defend ourselves by 2030 at the latest,” Frederiksen told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France. “Never, ever should we allow Europe to be put in a position again where we cannot defend ourselves.”

Many European leaders insist they have heard the Trump administration’s warning that American security priorities now lie elsewhere – in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific – but Europe’s effort to arm is moving only slowly. At a key summit last month, NATO leaders endorsed a statement saying: “Allies commit to invest 5 per cent of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence- and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations.”