- Title: REFILE: Ukraine and defence to top EU summit's discussions
- Date: 18th March 2025
- Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MARCH 18, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RESEARCH FELLOW AT CEPS THINK TANK ON EUROPEAN POLICIES TINATIN AKHVLEDIANI TYPING AT DESK (SOUNDBITE) (English) RESEARCH FELLOW AT CEPS THINK TANK ON EUROPEAN POLICIES, TINATIN AKHVLEDIANI, SAYING: "Sure, this week for the European Council, obviously Ukraine is a big topic and it relates all the other topics that act
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Defence EU Summit European Union Ukraine
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: European Union,Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002858413032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Ukraine and defence are expected to top Brussels summit later this week, as EU leaders work to find ways to support Kyiv amid uncertainty over the future of U.S. support under Donald Trump's administration.
At the last special European Council Hungary withheld support for Ukraine. Italy and Spain said on Monday (March 17) they were not ready to back EU's proposal to pledge up to 40 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine this year, with each country contributing according to the size of its economy.
"The big question is what is the EU's plan to put Ukraine in a strong position for potential negotiations with all this unpredictability and all the geopolitical shifts," research fellow at CEPS, Brussels Think Tank on European policies, Tinatin Akhvlediani, said on Tuesday (March 18) .
Security is a "vital question" for the survival of the European Union, so divisions between member states now "really matters," she added.
After the Rearm EU plan to strengthen Europe's defence industry and increase military capabilities that could mobilize close to 800 billion euros, the European Commission will invite EU countries to swiftly agree on their most pressing defense needs with a view to launching "large-scale pan-European flagship projects," according to a draft white paper seen by Reuters.
The white paper on the future of European defence, which will be discussed by EU leaders at the summit, is the latest in a series of steps intended to enable Europe to rapidly boost its defenses due to fears of a Russian attack and doubts about the future of U.S. protection.
Akhvlediani said that the EU is "waking up" and wants to be more independent in terms of defense capabilities, but argued that building equipment with comparable efficiency to that of the U.S. "will take years."
On top of Ukraine and defence, the agenda for the EU leaders meeting will also touch upon the Middle East, transatlantic relations, competitiveness, the EU budget, and migration.
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