Funding the sticking point as EU leaders agree to step up defence efforts

Plans to ramp up military capabilities bogged down in nationalist and economic rivalries

- Jonathan Eyal

European Union leaders concluded their first-ever summit devoted exclusively to defence on Feb 3 with a pledge to spend more on their military in the face of multiple threats, including Russia's war on Ukraine which will mark its third year on Feb 24.

The summit, which - in a further break with precedent - included British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose country left the EU in 2020, ended on a positive note.

"We must produce more of the capabilities we need and do it faster," said Mr Antonio Costa, president of the European Council which brings together the leaders of the EU's 27 member states.

But despite such vigorous statements, plans to ramp up Europe's military capabilities remain bogged down in nationalist and economic rivalries, even as a looming trade war with the administration of US President Donald Trump risks dividing Europe even further.

All European leaders share the fear that their continent is facing a long-term military threat from Russia, one that is predicted to get worse in the years to come.

Nor is there much disagreement about Europe's need to rely less on US military support.

As Nato chief Mark Rutte jokingly told European parliamentarians in January, unless Europe spends more on its defence and does so quickly, Europeans would be well-advised to either learn Russian "or go to New Zealand".

But nobody seems to agree on where additional military resources should come from and how these are to be spent.

Across the continent, defence spending stands at only 1.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), compared with around 9 per cent of GDP in Russia.

In Brussels for the latest defence summit, French President Emmanuel Macron said his country "ought to double" its defence expenditure.