EU And NATO Strengthen Defense Cooperation

NATO's General Secretary and the head of the European Commission have called for increased arms production in Europe.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have called for more arms production in Europe. "We should invest more, produce more, and both faster," von der Leyen wrote on Thursday, April 16, on Platform X after meeting with Rutte in Brussels.

Further assistance to Ukraine and critical infrastructure protection

The NATO chief said the consultations focused on further support to Ukraine in defense against Russian invasion and critical infrastructure protection. EU-NATO cooperation in these areas is "extremely important," Rutte emphasized. "A stronger Europe means a stronger NATO," he wrote in X.

The two sides also discussed the upcoming NATO summit in July. "In view of growing global security threats, we agreed to work closely together in the coming weeks to strengthen EU-NATO relations and prepare a successful summit in Ankara," von der Leyen said.

Defense growth is still too slow

The North Atlantic Alliance's June 2025 summit decided its 32 members to increase defense spending to 3.5 percent of GDP and in addition spend another 1.5 percent of GDP on defense-related areas. In turn, the EU, 23 of whose 27 members also belong to NATO, decided in March 2025 to spend 800 billion euros over the next few years on arms production and procurement.

The key obstacle remains the too slow growth of defense production. EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius recently cited data that Russia still produces significantly more weapons than the EU.

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