Increase the GDP intended for the purchase of weapons, replenish the arsenals emptied by the war in Ukraine and intervene in Africa, from where the crossing of the Mediterranean is set off and where the presence of China and Russia is becoming increasingly cumbersome. In Europa and in Nato it ran to rearmament. After the Ukrainian conflict, the EU will continue to send arms, financing them with the European Peace Fundnot just a Kiev but also to other partner states in the rest of the world while on the front Nato for the 30 allied countries the goal set in 2014 to invest the 2% of GDP for defense it becomes the minimum base required by the Alliance. A double message that arrives on the same day from the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Joseph Borrellwho brought it together Schuman Forum on Defense and Security, and by the Secretary-General of the Nato, Jens Stoltenberg, who presented the Alliance’s annual report. Already by sending weapons to Kiev the EU had broken a taboo, given that i treated they do not allow to finance lethal tools with the European budget. Hence the idea of using an inter-governmental fund – lo European Peace Facility (Epf) -, born with the intention of supporting the missions to third countries and emptied of the urgency to support Ukraine militarily: of the 4.5 billion allocated for the seven-year period 2021-2027 so far, 3.6 have been used to send military equipment to Kievso much so that in December the Advise has decided to increase it by two billion, while there is already an agreement in principle between the States to add another 3.5 billion.
“What we did for the Ukraine it can and will be done for others – announced Borrell -. The first assistance measure to deliver lethal equipment to African partners, Niger e Somalia, will be adopted soon”. The idea is to use l’Epf also for other partners, who “are increasingly interested in the support lethal“. For seventy years, this is the message transmitted by the head of European diplomacy, the EU, “born to solve intra-European problems”, has guaranteed the pacefirst of all internal, and was squeezed between the two blocks of the Cold War. “now theEuropean Union must do more than make peace between Europeans, but be an actor who can contribute to a world improve. now theEuropean Union must take its own responsibility“Borrell remarked. In short, we must “make the defence European stronger and more effective” and “become a stronger and more valuable partner. Inside the Nato definitely, but with the rest of the world”.
A need that had already been expressed before Ukrainian conflict and which had led to the formulation of the Compass strategic, with the creation of a rapid intervention force of 5,000 units. The aggression against Ukraine has not only accelerated the process, but has marked a turning point: le stockpiles of weapons have been emptied and now the problem arises of increasing the production and push on joint procurement. The same is true on the slope Natowhich includes the majority of EU countries.
A few kilometers away from Borrell Forumin the headquarters of the Alliancethe Secretary Stoltenberg has appealed to allies to do more in terms of spending and has announced that it will propose to leaders, at the July summit, Vilnius, to set 2% of GDP for defense spending, no longer as a goal to be achieved, but as a minimum base. “From the 2014The allies they have increased defense spending and we are moving in the right direction. But we are not moving as fast as the dangerous world we live in requires,” stressed the former Norwegian prime minister. Of the 30 allies, only 7 exceeded the 2% target in 2022. Italy it is at 1.51%. Defense spending increased by 2.2% in real terms last year, and since the beginning of the conflict “many allies have also announced significant increases“, recalled Stoltenberg, but “now these commitments must turn into contracts e equipment concrete“. The Ukrainian conflict has changed the international scene e the West can no longer stand by and watch, all the more so if Russia e Chinese should continue to approach as is happening these days. Because, notes the NATO chief, “even if the war in Ukraine ends tomorrow, the security environment it has changed in the long run.” It should not be forgotten that in Africa Russian and Chinese hegemony are rapidly gaining ground at the expense of Western influence. And NATO, Stoltenberg declared, “supports the European Union in its action against illegal immigration. We, he added, are a military alliance and the EU has means at its disposal that we don’t have. But we work with partners like Mauritania e Tunisia to strengthen their capacity and therefore theirs stability. But we have seen the rise of Russian presence in Africa and this proves that the Nato it doesn’t have the luxury of being able to choose which sources to focus on, it has to be active at 360 degrees. How about the protection of infrastructure criticismsmany of which are found in the Mediterranean”.