Russia warns that EU chief’s plans for new defense union signal confrontation | Russia-Ukraine war news

The Kremlin says Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal before her re-election bid shows the “militarization” of Europe.

Russia has warned that the European Union is becoming more militarized and confrontational, as a senior bloc official outlined plans for a new defense union.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is seeking a second term, said she hopes to launch a European Defense Union to deal with cross-border threats in the next five years, starting with a “European Air Shield and cyber defense.”

“We will ensure that these major projects are open to all and will use all the tools at our disposal – both regulatory and financial – to ensure that they are designed, built and deployed on European soil as quickly as possible,” she said in a document setting out the his program ahead of the European Parliament vote on Thursday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the proposal demonstrated von der Leyen’s “shift in priorities” and the EU’s “military coloring.”

“[It] confirms the general attitude of European states towards militarization, escalation of tension, confrontation and reliance on confrontational methods in their foreign policy,” Peskov said.

“Everything is quite obvious here.”

The Kremlin spokesman added that although Russia did not pose a threat to the EU, its member states’ actions towards Ukraine “precluded any possibility of dialogue and consideration of Russia’s concerns.”

“These are the realities we have to live in and this forces us to configure our foreign policy approaches accordingly,” Peskov said.

Re-election proposal

Von der Leyen, who needs 361 votes in the 720-seat European Parliament to remain in office, has put security at the center of her re-election campaign, underlining the need for a “strong Europe” during a “period of deep anxiety and uncertainty”. ”.

She reiterated the EU’s support for Ukraine in its 28-month war with Russia and called the recent visit to Moscow by Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban – whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency – as an “appeasement mission”. .

Von der Leyen also said she would create a new commissioner to tackle Europe’s housing crisis, “strengthen” the EU’s border agency, Frontex, and combat disinformation.

“The union needs its own structure dedicated to the fight against manipulation of information and foreign interference,” said von der Leyen.

The former German Defense Minister has led the European Commission since 2019, becoming the first woman to hold the position.

She belongs to Parliament’s largest political group, the conservative European People’s Party, which is in a centrist coalition with the Socialists and Democrats and the liberal Renew Europe groups.

Together, the coalition should have the numbers needed to re-elect her, but some lawmakers from her own party have indicated they may not meet the limits. Still, her supporters believe she can seal the deal by getting votes from the Greens and the far-right European Conservatives and Reformists with whom she has had negotiations.

If a majority of lawmakers reject his candidacy, it would leave leaders of the 27-nation bloc scrambling to find a replacement.