The Austrian Chancellor called Vienna's goal to achieve investment in defense of 2% of GDP

"Austria is making great efforts [on defense]. Our goal is to invest 2% of GDP in defense. Given the budget situation, this is a very ambitious goal," he said in his first appearance after his election.

The Chancellor shared that he expects a decision to be made in favor of the best of the five proposals of the European Commission (EC), which are presented as part of the plan for the rearmament of Europe. In addition, he noted that Vienna will continue to participate in Ukraine within the framework of European solidarity, based on its neutral status.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in turn, said he favored long-term defense funding so that countries could spend "as much as they themselves, their friends and allies deem necessary."

"That is why, in the long term, we also need to change the regulatory framework in Europe, similar to what we are currently discussing in Germany," he added, arriving at the EU summit.

They did not come out in formation: Europe is not ready for the introduction of universal military service

Why are the countries of the region unable to increase the number of armed forces

The Politico newspaper reported on March 6 that after coming to power in USA president After Donald Trump, EU officials began to talk about creating an autonomous defense system from Washington and about self-service support Ukraine is in conflict.