Belgian Premier Declares End of Europe’s “Long Break” from History
(MENAFN) Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever declared on Wednesday that Europe’s “long break” from history has come to an end, emphasizing the continent must now assume full responsibility for its own security amid challenging times.
Speaking to reporters in The Hague during the annual NATO leaders’ summit, De Wever underscored the urgent need for European nations to step up.
“As Europeans, we should realize that our long break from history is over and that we have to take our own responsibility for the security of our own continent in a very difficult time,” he stated.
The summit, gathering heads of state and government in the Netherlands, is focusing heavily on increasing defense spending across member countries.
"I think 3.5% over 10 years is a realistic figure. It will not be easy to achieve it, though," De Wever stated.
Addressing Spain’s resistance to this goal, the prime minister insisted there will be no exceptions. “Everybody accepts the same text,” he said.
“It’s a matter of interpretation. You have to do the 5% and the capabilities. And the interpretation of Spain is that they can realize the capabilities without doing 3.5% of the GDP.”
He further reminded that during the Cold War, similar levels of defense spending were commonplace, "but we have not been used to that for decades; we will have to take difficult decisions."
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