EU president says member states have five years to address the disparity.
Ursula von der Leyen told the European parliament that ‘freedoms will not come for free’.
Europe needs a “massive” defence spending boost, Ursula von der Leyen has said.
European nations are spending on average 1.9 per cent of GDP on defence, the EU Commission president said, pointing out the contrast to Russia’s 9 per cent spend.
Speaking in the European parliament, Mrs von der Leyen said member states had five years to address the disparity.
“There is something wrong in this equation. Our defence spending must increase,” she said, as she warned that freedom for Europe would be expensive.
“Our fight for freedom may look different to generations past. But the stakes are just as high. And, honourable members, these freedoms will not come for free,” Mrs von der Leyen said in her address.
“It will mean making difficult choices. It will mean massive investment in our security and prosperity. And above all it will mean staying united and true to our values.”
Ursula von der Leyen said the people of Ukraine are heroically fighting for freedom.
She added that “we want Ukraine as part of the European Union” and vowed to back Kyiv in Vladimir Putin’s war for “as long as it takes”.
Mrs von der Leyen was referring to an earlier claim by Putin that the Russian Federation is set to spend 9 per cent of GDP on defence this year, the biggest spend since the Cold War.
The Russian Duma also announced last week that it had approved a 2025 federal budget, which allocated a record 6.3 per cent of GDP for defence.
All of the EU’s member states – excluding Ireland, Malta and Austria – are members of Nato and as a result have committed, or already spend, 2 per cent of GDP on defence.
Eight Nato members are projected to miss that spending target for 2024: Croatia, Portugal, Italy, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain.
The re-election of Donald Trump, a critic of Nato, has fuelled discussions in the EU about taking on more responsibilities for European defence, such as major spending increases.
Germany, the bloc’s richest member state, is struggling to keep up with the 2 per cent GDP target in part due to a budget crisis that led to the collapse of Olaf Scholz’s coalition government earlier this month.
The Scholz government announced in 2022 a €100 billion (£800 million) special defence fund in response to the Russian invasion, but it has mostly been allocated, raising questions over expenditure for 2025 and onwards.
In Britain, the Labour Government has vowed “to set out a path to spend 2.5 per cent GDP on defence”. In October Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, said she would grant an additional £2.9 billion to the Ministry of Defence next year.
In her speech, Mrs von der Leyen also drew parallels between the fight of Europeans against the Nazi regime and the challenge posed by Russia today.
“I believe that our generation of Europeans must once again fight for freedom and sovereignty. For the freedom that the people of Ukraine are heroically fighting for,” she said.
“For the freedom to shape our own future in a confrontational and unstable world. But this freedom is not just an abstract word. It is about Europeans knowing that their families will be safe.”
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Ursula von der Leyen
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