MNI BRIEF: EC Moots New Financial Mechanism For Defence

European Commission Defence Commissioner Andrius Kabilius said Friday the bloc should look at how to bring forward the over EUR4 trillion of defence spending its member states are likely to utilise from 2028 to 2035. 

Kubilius told reporters in Helsinki that he estimated that states would on average spend around 3% of GDP on defence over the seven-year period of the next EU long-term budget (2028 to 2035), or around EUR4.2 trillion in total. 

Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen noted that northern and eastern EU states had shown enormous financial solidarity to the southern and western countries during Covid, but added "now its our turn". The comments followed a conference between the commissioner and the defence ministers of the EU's frontline states on the need for a 'drone wall' to protect against Russian violations of their airspace.