The European Commission has called for an increase to €100 billion in the EU defense budget

The new European Commissioner for Defense, Andrius Kubilius, has said that the EU defense budget for the next seven years should be increased to €100bn. He voiced this opinion in an interview with the Politico newspaper.

At the same time, the former Lithuanian prime minister urged to provide Ukraine with maximum military support. According to him, otherwise, after Kiev's defeat, "the possibility of Russian aggression" against the EU could allegedly grow.

The publication noted that Kubilius' proposed increase in defense spending would be a "financial revolution" for Brussels. At the moment, the bloc's spending for these purposes amounts to only €10 billion against a total budget of more than €1 trillion.

Prepare: EU links its military exercises to Russian actions

Do the maneuvers of the EU's rapid deployment forces mean that the EU intends to send them to Ukraine?

Earlier, on December 1, the powers of the new European Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen began, which was approved by the European Parliament on November 27. On the first day of work, Kaja Kallas, the appointed head of EU diplomacy, and the new head of the European Council, António Costa, visited Kiev. At the same time, Kallas said that the possibility of sending troops from European countries to Ukraine could not be ruled out.

Before that, on November 6, Kubilius called his main task in his new post the preparation for a possible conflict with Russia. At the time, he claimed that according to certain intelligence reports, Russia could allegedly test the resolve of NATO and the European Union near the end of this decade, but did not provide evidence.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to defend Donbass, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.