"This is a turning point for Europe,” stated Antonio Costa, president of the European Council. “And today we have shown that the European Union is up to the challenge. It is building a Europe of defence and standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. Because, at the end of the day, what we all want, what we all deserve, what we are all working for, is peace and security.”

Meeting in Brussels on Thursday, European heads of state and government approved the plan presented by the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, earlier in the week, in which the European Investment Bank is participating. Only Hungary did not want to go down this route.

The EU has decided to invest in priority areas already defined by the European Defence Agency, reflecting the lessons learned from the war in Ukraine and in full coherence with Nato: air and missile defence, artillery systems, missiles and munitions, drones and anti-drone systems, strategic enablers, military mobility, artificial intelligence, cyber and electronic warfare.

It will mobilise additional public and private funds for defence. "We will create a new European instrument, endowed with €150bn, to help member states strengthen the defence capabilities they urgently need,” stated Costa. “Furthermore, the leaders made it clear today that we need flexibility within the framework of the Stability and Growth Pact.” Financing that also includes flexibility to reallocate existing funds and a new role for the European Investment Bank, which will grant more loans to the defence sector.

Last but not least, the EU has decided to invest better and more efficiently together, through joint procurement, standardisation and simplification.

“I first want to see what Nato is asking of us, also in terms of content," Luxembourg prime minister (CSV) told RTL in Brussels. "Then we need to look at what it costs and how it is financed. And so, for the moment, it remains on what we have said, there is no other government decision, but in the light of what is happening in the world and we are at a time when we realise that history is about to turn, we must do more for our security. And security is not just conventional defence, security is also cyber security, security is also looking at how we can make satellite communication available to other states. We have now also talked about this in the [European] Council. That means it's a broader package that we need to work on. And that will take time."

Read the original French-language version of this news report /