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EU leaders urge more defense spending amid Trump push

January 22, 2025

The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Russia is a problem "for all of us," while adding that Trump is "right" on European defense spending. Poland's Donald Tusk said "if Europe is to survive, it needs to be armed."

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Kaja Kallas speaks to the press in Brussels on December 18, 2024
The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, an Estonian, took over her role from Spaniard Josep Borrell in December (FILE: December 18, 2024)Image: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images

Top EU foreign affairs official Kaja Kallas on Wednesday issued a call for EU member states to "wake up" when it comes to defense spending. 

"Russia is not the problem for some, but for all of us. Europeans need to wake up," Kallas told the annual conference of the European Defense Agency in Brussels. 

Kallas: President Trump is 'right' on defense spending

"Europe's failure to invest in military capabilities also sends a dangerous signal to the aggressor. Weakness invites them in," Kallas said. "There is nothing that cannot be weaponized against us today." 

In response to US President Donald Trump's push for NATO member states to pay more on defense, Kallas said "President Trump is right to say that we don't spend enough. It's time to invest."

"The EU's message to the US is clear, we must do more for our own defense and shoulder a fair share of responsibility for Europe's security," she continued. In addition, Kallas said the bloc should build a "mutually beneficial relationship on security and defense" with the UK, which she described as  "key partner."    

Tusk: European countries should pay 5% of GDP on defense

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in an address to EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, said that "if Europe is to survive, it needs to be armed."

Tusk said European nations would need to spend 5% of GDP on defense, lining up with Trump's exact demand of NATO members. 

The Polish leader claimed that his country is already spending that amount on defense. Poland borders Belarus, which is aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin's government. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has earlier called the 5% GDP demand too costly. 

During a meeting with Scholz in Paris on Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe must not only boost defense spending but also "develop its own industrial base, its own capacities, its own industry."

Defense spending is expected to be a major topic of discussion during Trump's second term. In February of last year, Trump suggested that he would "encourage" Russia to attack European NATO members who are "delinquent" on their financial obligations within NATO. 

wd/jcg (Reuters, AFP, dpa)