In ‘a watershed moment for Europe,’ EU leaders agree on plan for huge rise in defense spending
European leaders holding emergency talks in Brussels have agreed on a massive increase to defence spending, amid a drive to shore up support for Ukraine after Donald Trump halted US military aid and intelligence sharing.
But the show of unity was marred by Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, failing to endorse an EU statement on Ukraine pushing back against Trump’s Russia-friendly negotiating stance.
The 26 other EU leaders, including Orbán’s ally Robert Fico, the Slovakian prime minister, “firmly supported” the statement. “There can be no negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine,” said the statement, a response to Trump’s attempt to sideline Europe and Kyiv.
The European Council president António Costa, who called the meeting, said: “Hungary has a different strategic approach on Ukraine, but that means Hungary is isolated among the 27.”
Arriving at the summit, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had originally been scheduled to join by video link, said: “We are very thankful that we are not alone.”
Emmanuel Macron later described Vladimir Putin as a revisionist imperialist. The French president hit back at Russian reactions to his description of Moscow as an existential threat to Europe, saying the Kremlin had clearly been piqued by the fact their game had been uncovered. Macron said Russia reacted the way it did to his speech warning that Russian aggression “knows no borders” because it was true.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who presented to leaders an €800bn (£670bn) plan to increase European defence spending, said it was “a watershed moment for Europe” and also for Ukraine. [Continue reading…]