“Since the beginning of Russia’s war, Member States have started to increase their military spending. That is very good. But we do not only need to spend more; but we also need to spend better,” President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said.
Good to have @JensStoltenberg with us at our @EU_Commission seminar.
With the joint declaration we signed yesterday, we are taking our partnership to the next level.
And today, we are already stepping up work to strengthen our resilience and defence. https://t.co/FZONGrOkpb
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) January 11, 2023
“This is important to avoid costly fragmentation. It is important to ensure that there is value for money. We need to build interoperable forces, that is the most important part. And, of course, we need to maintain a strong industrial military base in Europe. We do already have the European Defence Fund, which helps develop cutting-edge military technologies. And now we have to make progress on the joint defence procurement, to harmonise that, to have a real common approach to that,” she emphasized.
