BRUSSELS, Jan 22 (KUNA) -- EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump is right in stating that EU countries are not spending enough on defense.
At the annual conference of the European Defense Agency in Brussels, Kallas called for increased military investment in the context of addressing what she described as the Russian threat. "President Trump is right to say that we don't spend enough. It's time to invest," she stated Kallas emphasized that the United States is "our strongest ally and must remain so," adding, "The EU's message to the United States is clear: we must do more for our own defense and share the responsibility for Europe's security." The EU's top diplomat said, "Some say I am a Russia hawk. I am a realist," describing Russia as "a militarized country that poses an existential threat to the EU." She pointed out that "Russian President Vladimir Putin is spending a third of his country's budget on the military, which is three times what it was before the war," adding that "in three months, the Russians can produce more weapons and ammunition than we can in 12 months." She stressed the "need for integration in European defense and the enhancement of our capacity to produce military equipment." For her side, NATO Deputy Secretary-General Radmila Shekerinska, in her remarks, stressed the necessity of strengthening European defense, describing this approach as "of great importance to NATO, as it is closely tied to transatlantic security." Shekerinska added that increasing defense investments and boosting defense production are a priority to ensure the safety of European countries, highlighting the importance of NATO and EU cooperation to face "growing strategic competition and destabilizing campaigns against our security and way of life." (end) arn.rk