Foreign Affairs Council (Defence): press remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Kaja Kallas
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Good evening.
Today we have had a long day of defence talks. First in NATO regarding Ukraine and our own defence readiness, and now we also have the [EU] Defence Ministers meeting where we discuss the defence readiness roadmap. This is a roadmap with concrete objectives, concrete goals and concrete milestones [on] how to achieve defence readiness by 2030.
Of course, there is a ‘lead nations concept’ so that Member States are in the lead of these different nine capability areas, and this also means that we work with this together with the Member States. What is extremely important is the issue of drones and how we really defend Europe from the drone attacks.
It is clear for every Member State that actually the drones could come from anywhere. And I was just back from Ukraine, and there's so much we can learn from them. I was visiting also the defence industry drone factories. We can bring the procurement costs down [and] procurement times down if we really cooperate with the Ukrainians regarding this. So important is that Member States understand that we need to move forward with this. And it concerns all the Member States, not only those who are on the Eastern flank.
Thank you.
Q. So, are you saying that some Member States are slowing this process down?
No, I'm not saying that. I'm actually saying the opposite. I'm saying that when we first talked about the drone wall it was about the Eastern flank, but then also the other Member States said that the drones could also come from the ships, for example. So, it is also a risk for the Southern Member States. So now we are actually talking about the whole of Europe when it comes to drone defence. This is definitely the innovation that we need to work with and see how we can defend Europe from these drone attacks that come from our adversaries.
Q. How will countries decide whether their counter drone capabilities are used by the EU or by NATO?
No, we are not doubling the work that NATO is doing. Actually, we are complementing each other. Some time ago, I also met with SACEUR [Supreme Allied Commander Europe], the NATO's military commander or military chief, and we discussed what Europe can do. Europe can help the Member States to do the joint procurement flagship projects, so that it would actually help the Member States to fill their capability targets and really not doing a double work, but really helping each other, coordinating with each other, how we can do this. So, helping the Member States to fill their capability targets together is the goal for us.
Q. Member States are more and more pushing for a stronger role of the EDA. Do you support such an initiative?
Of course, I am the Head of the EDA, so of course, I support this initiative. I also agree that EDA - the European Defence Agency - has a very particular role, which is to provide the framework to actually bring the Member States together to push for more joint projects. There are many capability areas where every Member State separately is too small to do it alone. We have to do it together and the EDA can actually aggregate these demands also to do the coordination with the defence industry so that we are able to do this in the best way possible. What I would like to see is also more innovation. Again, coming from Ukraine, these defence industry factories - drone factories – this is really incredible how they are innovating, really taking into account the battlefield experience and bringing the costs and procurement times down, which is also important for European taxpayers.
Q. The Commission is pushing for more European flagship projects at the same time. Is this counter to a bigger role of the EDA?
No, this is very much in cooperation. So, EDA, the institution is there. The framework is there. We can use this tool better than we have used it so far. But this is, of course, together with the Defence Commissioner, and in coordination also with the Commission. They are very much looking into the defence industry side, and the defence agency is really looking from the Member States angle how are the capability areas that we can do together.
Q. So you say there will be no doubling, but can you tell us exactly what is the difference between the initiative, the drone wall or the drone initiative, and NATO's counter drone measures?
Well, the drone initiative on the European level is for the Member States - what we need to do, the sensors we need to have, the interceptor drones, how does it work in practice? Of course, the military plans come from the NATO. That is very clear. But the procurement has to be done by the Member States. So, Member States need to buy these things to fill also the capability targets of NATO. Meaning that these are the needs that are there, that are identified by NATO as well, together also with experience from Ukraine. But the procurement has to be done by the Member States, and this is what we are trying to help them with – like what are the things we can do together, the flagships, and how will it really work in practice, but the military plans of course come from NATO.
Q. Von der Leyen, the President of the Commission, she really went forward with the drone wall initiative, and then she was kind of reined in by her own Chancellor Merz and other heads of states. Do you think that she oversteps the boundaries of Member States, and believe that she's overstepping some boundaries?
I don't think so. I think it is always so that you propose and, of course, the Member States discuss. So, what we have proposed has a lot of feedback, which we take into account. And I think, now, compared to the initial idea to what is now in the roadmap, is exactly what I pointed out. It is not only regarding [the] Eastern flank, but it is actually about all the Member States who have understood that this is also the risk that they might have. There are, of course, a lot of questions, whether it is really possible to put the defence up for every single meter. But this is also not the way it works in Ukraine. The percentage that you are able to take the drones down is very high, even with limited funding or limited possibilities. So, this is what we can also do on the European level. I think what everybody has understood: the threat is there for every single Member State and we need to have a plan for this.
Q. It's about Ukraine. The best guarantee, as some Ministers said, is to equip and train the Ukrainian army. Can Europe afford that? Especially that all the weapons, as we understood from the United States, will come from Europe. Can Europe afford arming Ukraine to be a security guarantee?
Well, we have two choices. The other choice is that this war will go further. So, actually, it is cheaper for us to help Ukraine to defend itself, so that this war doesn't go any further and there is also no risk for all the other Member States.
Q. Why do you think all these provocations is kind of escalating all the time? We see more escalations, not less escalation. What does Russia want from this?
There are two things. One is to test our unity, how we react to these incursions when they are every single time going further. And the other is to sow fear inside our society so that we would refrain from helping Ukraine and they would get what they want, which is the subjugation of Ukraine. I think our response could only be we are helping Ukraine to defend itself, and we are on this course, we are also putting more pressure on Russia because we want this war to stop and this killing to stop.
Q. The last thing about Gaza. Do you see any military role for the EU in the Gaza plan, implementing the plan?
Yes. When President Trump came out with this plan, then we immediately looked what could be our input for these different points. And when there is talk about the international stabilisation force, then there are two very concrete things that we could do as European Union. We have two missions. One is the EUBAM Rafah border crossing mission, which is now also opening again. And the other is the EUPOL COPPS mission, which is a civilian mission helping to train the Palestinian police. Because we are supporters of the two-state solution, and in order to have two states, that means that the Palestine state should also be stronger and able to actually prevent chaos happening. So, these are very concrete things that we bring to the table.
Q. No boots on the ground?
This is up to every Member State to decide on their own. Europe does not have an army on its own, it’s Member States separately. European mission, like I said, we have those two missions, and of course, we can discuss to also expand the mandate of those two missions if it is necessary.
Q. Not the military one?
No, we don't have, we have the border crossing mission and the civilian mission. If time comes to that, we can decide whether, you know, expand the mandate. But so far, we haven't put forward any concrete plans to have a separate military mission. It is up to the Member States.
Thank you.
Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/media/video/I-278947