Europe must re-arm to have ‘credible deterrence’ by 2030 —von der Leyen

COPENHAGEN — Europe must build a "credible" deterrence capability within five years as it faces an aggressive Russia and the potential loss of US security protections, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.

Governments in Europe are under pressure to step up on defense as US President Donald Trump questions the central role the United States has held in NATO since the wake of World War II while making overtures towards Russia on Ukraine.

"By 2030, Europe must have a strong European defense posture," von der Leyen said in a speech to cadets at the Royal Danish Military Academy in Copenhagen.

"If Europe wants to avoid war, Europe must get ready for war," the European Commission chief warned—setting a target for the continent to "have re-armed and developed the capabilities to have credible deterrence."

Von der Leyen's speech came a day before the commission presents a white paper to flesh out proposals aimed at helping Europe rearm, as part of a broader roadmap that she dubbed "Readiness 2030."

Bolstering Europe's defenses is to top the agenda at a leaders' summit later this week, after the EU endorsed a commission plan aimed at mobilizing up to €800 billion ($875 billion) in investments.

The plan—which the white paper builds on—proposes easing the bloc's fiscal rules to allow states to spend much more on defense, a measure the commission says could potentially unlock €650 billion over four years.

It proposes providing states with EU-backed loans of up to €150 billion.

And it allows member states to repurpose so-called "cohesion" funds intended for the development of poorer European countries and lifts curbs on defense investments by the bloc's lending arm, the European Investment Bank.

Further steps, von der Leyen indicated in Copenhagen, would involve helping states to pool European demand and ramp up joint procurement, with a view to strengthening Europe's defense industrial base.

She promised to convene a "strategic dialogue" with the sector to identify the obstacles they face.

And the commission chief reiterated her call to ramp up support for Ukraine—in what she has branded a "steel porcupine strategy."

"We need to make Ukraine strong enough to be indigestible for potential invaders," she said, while also emphasizing that Europe was "learning from Ukraine's defense industry" with its battlefield experience and capacity for swift innovation. — Agence France-Presse