As soon as the US withdrew its support for Ukraine, the EC reacted. The President of the EC sent the letter for the creation of a fund worth 800 billion euros for 4 years, of which 650 will be raised by the member states, and 150 billion euros will be used to finance the defense industry in order to make Europe more independent. This is money for missiles, drones, an anti-missile shield and modern weapons. This was stated by the MEP from GERB Emil Radev in the program “Face to Face” on BTV.
“For 80 years, Europe relied on the US for its security. Yes, the US is our main trading partner in NATO, which contributes to European security, but we have seen that individual member states are very unprepared. The European defense industry cannot cope with modern wars. Europe must do everything necessary to have a modern and necessary defense industry, to be able to produce modern weapons in Europe. Measures must be taken and the next step must be taken - European rapid reaction forces. This way we will be able to react quickly, but we will also have much greater foreign policy weight, he stressed.
“First we must see the conditions for creating this fund and how it will be financed. We must sit down at the table and clear up the contradictions,” the MEP stressed.
We have been helping Ukraine from the very beginning and this is the common European position and it has not changed. We must deal with the new realities. Bulgaria has a clear position, we have a declaration of the National Assembly. The situation for Ukraine is becoming much more difficult after the US withdrawal. This war is 300 km from our country. According to the Constitution, foreign policy is the responsibility of the government. These decisions are made in a democratic manner. We must find the best position for the security of our and European citizens. Bulgaria is part of this coalition and with all our actions we have shown our support for Ukraine. All member states voted for both sanctions and aid, and if there was no unanimity in the EU, we would not have been able to help Ukraine for so long and for it to last three years. The war would have been on the EU border a long time ago. My colleagues from the Baltic republics are terribly worried, because they could be next, the threat is very real. My Polish colleagues are also worried. We must be united”, explained Emil Radev.
“The contacts of European leaders with President Trump and his administration continue. I think reason will prevail. Europe must do everything possible in the future not to rely on anyone else for its security, but to ensure that it has a combat-ready army and that we arm ourselves with European weapons,” the MEP emphasized.
Emil Radev confirmed that there is a risk of losing funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan.