Von der Leyen responds to Trump with a multi-billion dollar plan to rearm Europe
Brussels proposes to relax fiscal rules, guarantee loans to member states and divert European funds to defence


BrusselsBrussels' urgent reaction to the decision of Donald Trump to freeze aid to Ukraine. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced this Tuesday a multi-billion-dollar rearmament plan to continue supporting Ukrainian troops and for European states to regain military autonomy from the United States. "Europe must take responsibility for its capacity for deterrence and security," stressed the head of the community executive in an appearance in which she did not accept questions.
The strategy outlined by Von der Leyen consists of five points and has been sent by letter to all European leaders, who will meet urgently this Thursday in the Belgian capital to discuss it. The first is the relaxation of fiscal rules: each member state will be able to increase its defense spending without it being taken into account when opening a file if it exceeds the deficit limit, which is now a maximum of 3% of gross domestic product (GDP). This measure, as Von der Leyen herself pointed out, would allow countries to spend a total of 1.5% more of their GDP on defence, which could mean an extra 600 billion euros over four years.
It should be noted, however, that this exceptional clause would have to be requested by the member states themselves in Brussels and there are state governments that do not plan to use it at the moment, such as Spain. In addition, it would be paid for by state budgets, and in no case by the common accounts of the European Union.
The second point of the plan that Brussels has notified to the Member States by letter is the access of European partners to loans guaranteed by the EU for a total value of up to 150 billion euros. This money would be used to finance a joint purchase of weapons, which is expected to help reduce costs and improve interoperability between the different European armies. In this regard, the President of the European Commission has announced that it is intended to reinforce air defence systems, acquire more missiles, ammunition and drones, strengthening the defence of critical infrastructures and the fight against cyber attacks.
The third line of financing that Brussels proposes is the diversion of some European funds that are already being deployed, such as those for cohesion. In this way, Von der Leyen intends to encourage Member States to allocate money that they have allocated to finance other issues to defence and proposes "eliminating restrictions" on the purchase of weapons or participation in military projects. In any case, the European Commission is ignoring for the moment the requests of some member states such as France or Spain to issue common debt, and is not proposing the creation of new Eurobonds, similar to those approved to deal with the economic consequences of the pandemic.
Fourth and fifth, the President of the European Commission calls for more private capital to be mobilised by completing the EU Capital Markets Union and once again proposes that the European Investment Bank (EIB), chaired by former Spanish Vice-President Nadia Calviño, should increase its resources in an underlying manner. In fact, a majority of Member States, including Spain, already asked the EIB last month to modify its statutes and be able to provide financing for projects that have a direct military use, something that this financial institution cannot do at the moment.
Security guarantees for Ukraine
Von der Leyen's plan was not the only response to Trump's decision to cut aid to Kiev. French Secretary of State for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad told France 2 that the White House's positioning "reinforces the aggressor," which is Russia, and urged European partners to be aware of the "historical" importance of the summit on Europe and the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb has proposed that Ukraine could become a NATO ally. de facto if it is attacked again. That is, that it is agreed that it will automatically join the Atlantic Alliance in the event that Russia breaches a potential ceasefire or peace agreement. In this way, Stubb has argued in an interview on CNN that it would be a way of avoiding the "skepticism" of countries such as the United States or Germany about Ukraine's membership in NATO and, at the same time, of giving security guarantees to Kiev, which is what European leaders are discussing.
From London, Downing Street has accepted Trump's decision with British phlegm. On Monday, the premier Keir Starmer assured the Commons that he had no information about the possible suspension of the arms shipment. And, faced with the fait accompli, this Tuesday morning the Prime Minister's spokesman said: "We remain absolutely committed to achieving a lasting peace in Ukraine and we are working with key allies to support that effort. It is the right thing to do, and it is in our interest to do so." He detailed: "We have strengthened Ukraine's military capabilities through our commitment to provide it with 3 billion pounds a year in military aid for as long as necessary, as well as with a loan of 2.26 billion pounds using sanctioned Russian assets." Beyond the usual diplomatic rhetoric, the truth is that Starmer's efforts to build bridges to repair the relationship between Trump and Zelensky seem rather useless. And it also seems that the call he had with the Republican magnate on Monday night, before Washington announced the decision, was of no use.