Raimundo criticized Europe’s proposal for joint arms purchases

The Secretary General of the PKP criticized this Wednesday the commitment set by the European Commission for the joint procurement by Member States of at least 40% of military equipment for the European Union (EU) by 2030.

“What was the EU’s calculation when it decided that our obligations should be about 40%? We may have needs for 60% or just 20%… It’s someone who is there and, in his Excel payroll, decides how much to spend on healthcare, how much to stop spending on housing, how much to stop paying wages, to spend on weapons? This is the path we are not following,” said Paulo Raimundo.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the CDU’s election initiative in Baixa da Banheira, Setubal district, the communist leader also drew an analogy with the TAP capitalization operation to denounce the lack of Portuguese sovereignty due to European commitments.

“We remember the EU, which allowed the Portuguese state, with all our money, to invest three billion euros in TAP, on the condition that after clearing TAP it was privatized. Where do I want to go with this? We are in a situation where the state does not have any sovereignty to determine its own path, well, it is impossible. There is no state that develops without sovereignty over its decisions,” he emphasized.

Chief Executive Ursula von der Leyen wants the 27-nation Community bloc to commit to jointly purchasing at least 40% of all military equipment to bolster European defence, according to a proposal for an EU defense industry strategy unveiled on Tuesday. over the next six years.

At the same time, the European Commission wants the value of intra-European defense trade to account for at least 35% of the EU defense market by 2030.

At a press conference dedicated to the presentation of this strategy, Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager recalled that “not far from here, Ukrainians are fighting for freedom and European values.”

“In the last two years, we have been faced with a situation where the defense industry cannot produce at the required speed,” he added.

The European Commission has unveiled a European defense industrial strategy to create a “military economy” in the EU, with an investment program in the sector expected to cost €100 billion, according to reports from European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry. Breton.

At stake is the proposal for a European Defense Industrial Strategy, designed to respond to investment gaps in the sector through European instruments and joint government contracts and thus strengthen capacity and support Ukraine in the face of a Russian invasion.