Berlin, Paris and Warsaw urge arms build-up

Berlin (dpa) – In view of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland are calling for more to be done to build up arms in Europe. “We must draw on the entire industrial potential of our continent to improve our military capabilities,” wrote Annalena Baerbock (Germany), Stéphane Séjourné (France) and Radoslaw Sikorski (Poland) in a guest article, adding that a permanent arms build-up required long-term contracts with clear timetables and financial commitments, as well as purchase guarantees issued by European governments. Spending two percent of gross domestic product on defence could be “just a starting point”, the ministers stated in the article. Writing on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic military alliance NATO on Thursday, they added: “The US has long shouldered more of the burden than the other members of our alliance. Yet collective defence must be a joint effort.” With regard to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the foreign ministers reaffirmed: “If Europe is to live in peace, Russian imperialism must be stopped.”