from Tasnim Agency

(Tasnim) – The EU must revise its military strategy and drastically ramp up defense production to help Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, European Council President Charles Michel said on Monday. The call comes as Kiev has increasingly warned of ammunition shortages.

Writing in an op-ed published by the La Libre Belgique newspaper and the Euractiv website, Michel claimed that Moscow “is a serious military threat to our European continent and global security,” RT reported.

“If we do not get the EU’s response right and do not give Ukraine enough support to stop Russia, we are next,” he added.

The EU Council chief argued that “for decades, Europe has failed to invest sufficiently in our security and defense,” and now urgently needs a “a radical and irreversible shift in our thinking towards a strategic security mindset.”

We must therefore be defense-ready and shift to a ‘war economy’ mode. It’s time to take responsibility for our security. We can no longer count on others or be at the mercy of election cycles in the US or elsewhere.

The bloc’s defense production has increased by 50% since the start of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Michel said, adding that the bloc will “double ammunition production to over 2 million shells yearly, by the end of next year.”

The EU has been struggling to procure enough weapons and ammunition for Kiev’s needs as Ukrainian and international politicians and experts, as well as soldiers on the battlefield, are blaming shortages for the losses of territory to Russia. The shipments were further delayed when US President Joe Biden’s $61 billion aid package stalled in Congress due to political in-fighting between Democrats and Republicans. The bill remains in limbo due to opposition from GOP legislators.

The situation with the supply of Western air defense systems to Kiev is particularly dire, according to the New York Times. The newspaper cited an official US assessment in early February which stated that, without replenishment, Ukraine’s air defenses could operate only until March 2024.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has renewed his call for additional deliveries, warning in February that an “artificial deficit of weapons” would only help Russia.”

Indeed, we are no better than the Russians

Just a few steps behind and a few ideas disconnected

A stronger and more unified European security apparatus is long overdue. No reason why Europe should depend on America for security and the time has passed when any individual European state could be a world-beater. Really the EU should be a security + economy umbrella and leave the politics to the side

how do you expect politics to be left

Well it should decide whether it wants to be a union of Member States or if it wants to be a Union of member states, right now it’s in a limbo between the two. If option one, then it should drop politics, expand membership, and loosen ties. If option two, then it should fully take up politics, restrict membership, and deepen ties.

Cringe

what is a “world-beater” ?

How does one simply “drop politics”

Stronger european security apparatus only exists to relieve US from its duties in the region since it cant produce enough bombs to satiate its war appetite, and wants to instead divert resources to china's backyard

These eu hacks trying to man up