Romanian acting President Ilie Bolojan said he was attending the European Council in Brussels with a mandate based on three premises: developing NATO’s European pillar, supporting Ukraine and increasing defense spending. He added that “supporting Ukraine is supporting stability on our country’s borders and it is supporting peace in our country.”
European Union leaders are discussing a new defense strategy for Europe and Ukraine on Thursday, as Donald Trump seeks to withdraw American involvement in the region.
“I have a mandate based on 3 premises. The first is support for increasing Europe’s role in maintaining peace on the continent, which means developing the European pillar in NATO and maintaining the partnership with the US so that NATO can strengthen its role as a guarantor of peace on the continent. The second premise is support for Ukraine, so that until a peace is concluded and a ceasefire is reached, there are conditions for the front not to break, because supporting Ukraine is support for stability at the borders of our country and is support for the peace of our country. And the third is to support increasing defense spending, so that based on the facility that is proposed, this spending does not go into the deficit, so that we can support our national defense industry,” Bolojan stated.
Interim President Ilie Bolojan had three meetings on Thursday, with the leader of the European People’s Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, and with the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Germany, Friedrich Merz, future Chancellor of Germany, and with the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, in the context of the EPP summit in Brussels.
“Romania is ready to work closely with other EU member states to find immediate solutions to recent developments,” Bolojan said in a message published on X, after the meeting with Weber.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced that he would respond to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to tell her that Romania agrees to allocate additional funds for armaments, but the condition is “that the money reaches exclusively to factories in the Romanian defense industry.”
“‘Yes’ for increasing defense spending, ‘No’ for sending Romanian troops to Ukraine,” the Head of Government added.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday the five-point plan to rearm Europe, “ReArm Europe”, which she says will allow the commitment of 800 billion euros in funds. Member states will be able to increase defense spending without triggering the excessive deficit procedure.
Donald Tusk backs French nuclear deterrence proposal
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said “it is a day when everything can change and probably will change, when it comes to Europe’s resolve on rearmament and the defense industry and our readiness to face this Russian challenge to the world.”
“Europe as a whole is really capable of winning any military, financial, economic confrontation with Russia – we are simply stronger,” he said. He compared the situation to the Cold War, saying he was confident that “Russia will lose this arms race, just like the Soviet Union did 40 years ago.”
He said the French nuclear deterrence proposal “is worth considering” and should be part of a broader move to coordinate European defense efforts.
Scholz: Support for Ukraine, yet maintaining good relations with US
Acting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said today’s meeting was about ensuring continued support for Ukraine, but he made clear the importance of maintaining good relations with the US.
Scholz also acknowledged plans outlined by presumptive Chancellor Friedrich Merz to increase defence spending, “including by changing the constitution”, and said there seemed to be a growing internal consensus on the issue.
He said the EU needed to change its rules in similar directions to ensure it could meet the challenge, but with “long-term solutions” in mind. Asked about Macron’s proposals on nuclear deterrence, he said Europe should not abandon US involvement. His long-standing criticism on this point was based on concerns that any expansion of the French programme would allow the US to further disengage from European security.