The European Union's strategical partnership with NATO is the key to guaranteeing transatlantic security, said António Costa, president of the European Council, at the informal EU summit in Brussels. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and head of the British government of Keir Starmer spoke about enhancing the EU's defence capacity.
– It was an informal meeting, but it had more effect than regular European Council meetings. I can say with large satisfaction that, among another things, thanks to the engagement of the president of the Council and the Head of the European Commission, this gathering was from the point of view of Polish Presidency highly fruitful and very promising. It has not ended, of course, by formal decisions, but by the intention of the full "27" to velocity up the work on Europe's armament and make it safer, it was very upbuilding," concluded Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Monday.
The head of the Polish government thanked the organizer of the António Costa gathering for giving him the thought of inviting the Prime Minister of large Britain to Brussels. “We have benefited greatly from the large experience of the erstwhile president of the European Council (...). Everyone was delighted to welcome Keira Starmer to our group. He had a crucial part in our conversations. He could have made it clear that the United Kingdom and the European Union are reliable and predictable partners said the president of the European Council. He assured that the UK and the EU wanted to do more together, and everyone is looking forward to another summit in the United Kingdom in May.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, besides mentioned the expectations of this summit. The gathering in London is to be devoted to defence and safety issues and the cooperation of the European Union with Britain. "Many initiatives must be launched," said the EC President, addressing Prime Minister Tusk. She besides admitted that she was very pleased that Poland is presently holding the EU Presidency. "Security has become the central subject of your Presidency and very rightly so. That's why I know we can number on your energy for action," added Ursula von der Leyen.
Prime Minister Tusk thanked the organiser of yesterday's summit for agreeing to his suggestions to devote the second part of the gathering to relations between the European Union and Britain. “It was a very crucial minute for all of us, and I am besides glad that everyone confirmed their readiness to minimize the negative effects of the brexit on both sides,” said the head of the Polish government. According to him, there has not been as good a relation between Brussels and London as present since the United Kingdom left the European Union.
Prime Minister Tusk mentioned at the press conference that during the informal EU summit leaders unanimously expressed their support for Denmark (in the context of a peculiar interest in Greenland of the fresh US President). "It is very crucial that our words about solidarity are not slogans, but consciously addressing possible challenges. I am speaking so openly due to the fact that I represent a country that traditionally has close relations with the United States. I besides represent the country that has the highest ratio in Europe erstwhile it comes to the share of arms spending in the gross home product," said Donald Tusk. He reminded me that Poland exceeded 4% in defence spending which allows the Polish Presidency and the Polish Government to talk very openly with “friends on the another side of the Atlantic”. "For the European Union as a whole, the territorial integrity of the state, and especially of a associate of the Union, is undisputed and we will treat it as the highest precedence of the full community," assured Donald Tusk.
The erstwhile president of the European Council besides acknowledged that it was very crucial for EU associate States to be prepared to step up their work on financing and concrete actions to enhance EU defence. He noticed that the request to support the Tartar East project is treated as a joint task to defend the east border of the European Union. In the opinion of Antónia Costa, there is an undisputed common, very large space associated with the EU's defence and production capabilities. In his opinion, it is worth considering it "as a common task and a subject worth jointly financing". Prime Minister Tusk included the protection of territorial waters and seas in these tasks. “Not only the Baltic, which is already a slow practice, but besides the North Sea,” he noted.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, pointed out that the discussion on enhancing the defence capacity of EU countries was timely. In consequence to the increasing threats – as she said – Europeans must be more determined. "Europe needs to increase its defence possible and so our defence manufacture base needs to be strengthened. This means, first, that our defence spending will should be increased. (...) Our coordination on defence must be strengthened by, for example, joint purchases and guaranteeing interoperability, which will reduce costs," explained the President. She besides stressed the request to increase cooperation with the Ukrainian arms sector, which specialised in drone production. “Our defence manufacture can learn a lot from Ukrainian, who acquires fresh experiences on the battlefield all day,” she stressed.
Mr Costa confirmed that the summit discussed strengthening the defence partnership of EU countries. "The European Union's strategical partnership with NATO is key to guaranteeing transatlantic security. Both will work together and strengthen each other. At a gathering with the NATO Secretary-General, we agreed that a stronger defence Europe besides strengthens the transatlantic partnership. The United States is our friend, ally and partner. This is simply a relation that has deep roots and will last over time," said the president of the European Council.
Costa stated that EU leaders agreed that more money should be spent on defence. However, he pointed out that these expenditures must be borne more rationally. He stressed that the summit talks brought affirmative changes to the state leaders' defence approach. – Building a safe Europe, we see urgent tasks to do. We're not talking about whether, but how to do it," said António Costa.
