EU strengthens Europe’s defence

Brussels (dpa) – At the spring summit in Brussels, the EU states agreed to massively strengthen Europe’s defence readiness by 2030. The rearmament plans include EU loans totalling 150 billion euros and a special rule that allows defence spending to be exempted from the strict EU debt rules. A total of 800 billion euros is to be mobilised in the next four years alone.  

“‘Bye” – with this one brief word, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz signed off at the press conference following what was likely his final regular EU summit. At the end of the meeting he took stock of his time at the Brussels summit tables. Over the years, he had “learnt a lot about the political situations in other countries”, said Scholz. When asked about his greatest achievement, the outgoing Federal Chancellor referred to the support given to Ukraine and the fact that major crises such as the energy crisis had been overcome. The new government in Germany will in all likelihood be led by Friedrich Merz as Federal Chancellor.