‘War is not imminent, but not impossible’

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenhas this Wednesday a “urgent awakening” in defense in Europeafter pointing out that there is a rise of authoritarianism in the world and all that ‘The threat of war is not immediate, but not impossible’.

In a debate in the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Von der Leyen warned of the “dangers of a growing and disturbing league of authoritarians”, referring to Russiain addition to the instability in the Middle East with the war in Gaza. For all these reasons, he has called on Europe to “urgently wake up” on security and defense, pointing out that “Europe’s freedom and prosperity” are at stake.

“The threat of war may not be immediate, but it is not impossible either. The risks of war should not be exaggerated, but we must prepare for them. And that starts with the urgent need to rebuild, replenish and modernize the region’s armed forces. Member States,” he assured Members of the European Parliament.

Defense strategy

In this way, von der Leyen has put forward that her Defense Industrial Strategy Plan means that Europe can be at the forefront of “the next generation of battle-winning operational capabilities” and guarantee itself sufficient weapons material and technological superiority.

“That means boosting our defense industrial capacity over the next five years,” he noted, summarizing one of the objectives of his Defense Plan so that Europe “spends more, better and in a European way” through joint procurement .

In this sense, the German ‘people’ have confirmed that this type of joint acquisition of military equipment will be the priority and “will help reduce fragmentation and increase interoperability.” The community leader believes it is important to send a “clear signal to the industry” with pre-purchase agreements, to give the arms sector guarantees of long-term predictability.

Using frozen Russian asset interests to send weapons to Ukraine

The head of the community administrator has urged to “think big” and start the debate on the matter use of interest generated by frozen Russian assets in Europe for two years, noting that they can be used in supply weapons to Ukraine.

In this way, he has reiterated the proposal of some member states, such as Poland, and emphasized that there is no “stronger symbol” than using the benefits generated by frozen Russian assets to strengthen the Ukrainian army.