Photo: euronews.com Andrius Kubilius
Amid new geopolitical challenges, Europe is moving from words to deeds, he said he told Euronews, describing the changes facing the industry as “comprehensive”.
“We see serious challenges in the Mediterranean region because of the war in Iran and the destabilization of the Middle East,” he explained. – We also see them on our eastern flank because of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Problems have also arisen because of the Americans, who say they will reduce their presence on the European continent. They want Europe to take the main responsibility for conventional defense.”
In this context, Kubilius stressed the need to accelerate European defense preparedness, noting that circumstances leave no room for delay.
“The Russian Federation is still ahead of us in production in several areas, so we must produce more,” the commissioner said. – And there is a lot to learn from Ukraine. “We need to move from ‘couture’ in the military-industrial complex, which is advanced but expensive and difficult to scale, to just enough quality production.” Polls show that EU citizens consider strengthening defense to be a strategic priority. It would be good if national leaders could hear this.
