UK Media: EU to Establish a 150-billion Euro Weapons Procurement Fund

Moscow, Russian Satellite News Agency - According to消息人士 quoted by the Financial Times of the UK, it is reported that EU member states have agreed to establish a credit fund worth 150 billion euros for weapons procurement.

The report states: "EU member states agree to establish a credit fund worth 150 billion euros for weapons procurement, which will be funded by the EU common budget."

According to消息 sources, the decision was made on May 19th, and the relevant agreement will be officially signed on May 21st.

On March 19th, the European Commission unveiled a new defense plan called "Rearming Europe," which stipulated an investment of approximately 800 billion euros to strengthen the defense of EU countries and provide arms to Ukraine. Due to protests from a series of EU countries, the name of the plan was later changed to the less radical White Paper for 2030. The Defense White Paper for 2030 plans to raise about 800 billion euros within four years. Of this amount, most of the funds (about 650 billion euros) will come from national budgets in Europe, while the remaining 150 billion euros will be raised through loans. Additionally, the European Commission will offer fiscal relief policies to member states and redistribute part of the originally planned funds for regional development to military spending. The goal of this white paper is to increase the defense budget of EU countries to 1.5% of GDP.

In recent years, Russia has repeatedly pointed out that NATO has carried out "unprecedented" activities at its western border, expanding initiatives and calling them "containment of Russian aggression." Moscow has also expressed concerns about NATO's expansion of forces in Europe on multiple occasions. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Moscow is open to dialogue with NATO, but it must be on an equal basis, and Western countries must abandon their route of militarizing the European continent.

Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832591881749504/

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