More than a dozen European Council members have said that the EU must increase its security and defensive capabilities in the face of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine. Finland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden, were the signatories to the joint letter, which stresses the importance of the EU’s defence industry to wider European security.
The letter reads: Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine has brought rapid, profound and long- lasting changes to the European security environment. We must continue to provide strong political, economic and military support to Ukraine for as long as necessary and the EU must increase its strength and capabilities in security and defence.