Within April, the Commission’s proposal to strengthen the production capacity of the EU defense industry is expected, as stated by the High Representative of the EU, Josep Borrell, speaking in Brussels to a small group of media, including APE-MPE.

“What the industry needs is a real prospect of production,” Borrell noted, adding that production is much lower than it was 20 years ago because, he said, “there was no demand and there was no demand because there was no war.” .

The High Representative explained that member states must produce more “for Ukraine, but also for themselves. Because if their reserves run out, they have to refill them.”

“We decided to support Ukraine. When we decided to send weapons, there was no criticism. When we decided to send missiles for the weapons, that’s when the issue arose,” he stressed, saying that if member states agreed to send weapons to Ukraine, then they had to agree to send missiles as well.

“We can say that militarily Russia has not achieved its goals,” Josep Borrell pointed out. He also mentioned that he is expected to move to China soon.

Finally, in relation to China-Russia relations, the High Representative noted that Beijing wants to reduce the risk of being associated with Russia’s military actions, while underlining that “there are no indications that (the Chinese) want to get involved militarily.”