“This war against Ukraine has been a brutal wake-up call for many of us,” Borel told the defense conference.
“We are aware that our military stockpiles have been rapidly depleted due to lack of investment for years,” Borrell said.
Since the Russian invasion began in February, European allies have delivered billions of euros worth of weapons to Kiev to help defend against invading Russian forces.
Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has also drawn attention to the EU’s defense capabilities, which have suffered from years of underfunding since the end of the Cold War.
“We recognize that we lack critical defense capabilities. We lack the capabilities we need to protect against higher-level threats,” Borrell said.
“We are facing a threat, a real, imminent and worsening threat,” he added.
EU member states have increased their defense spending since the start of the war in Ukraine, but Borel stressed that more needs to be done and that overall procurement and investment in technology needs to be increased to make up for the shortfall.
“For me the choice is obvious. We need to cooperate more, European militaries need to cooperate more with each other,” said the EU’s top representative for foreign affairs and security policy.
“We must continue to support Ukraine. We must continue to address current needs and start preparing for the future,” he said.
The EU has long received calls to strengthen European defense capabilities and better integrate the armed forces. In particular, France defended such an idea.
However, the EU still relies heavily on the US to provide security on the continent under the auspices of NATO.
Washington has sent tens of thousands of additional troops to Europe to reassure its allies after the war in Ukraine began, and NATO has beefed up its military presence on its eastern flank.
