JAKARTA - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday praised Turkey as one of the largest military forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as well as playing an important role both in the alliance and in relations with the European Union (EU).
Speaking at the NATO Summit Defense Industry Forum in Ankara during a panel discussion titled "Capability Challenges: NATO-EU Dialogue" with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, von der Leyen highlighted the importance of deeper NATO-EU coordination, joint procurement, and strengthening of the European defense industrial base in the midst of a changing security environment.
He stressed that EU member states and NATO allies largely rely on "a single set of forces" that can be assigned to NATO missions, EU operations, UN missions, or willing partner coalitions.
Von der Leyen said interoperability between forces was essential and that the current geopolitical environment required "a massive increase in defense investment."
Turkey, he said, has a significant place in this framework.
"Turkey is one of the largest armed forces in NATO, very important, and has always played an important role in the alliance, but also, of course, in our relations with the European Union," von der Leyen said, quoted by Anadolu (8/7).
He added that there was an opportunity for closer cooperation between Turkey and European defense initiatives, including the EU's Security for Europe (SAFE) Action Instrument, which provides funding for joint defense procurement.
Meanwhile, Secretary General Rutte said NATO and the European Union have a clear division of responsibilities and can strengthen each other by working together.
"NATO is about capabilities and command and control standards," he explained, adding that the EU has an important role in various areas including defense investment, military mobility, community resilience, and the development of a defense industrial base.
Rutte said Europe must become a stronger partner within NATO and reduce excessive dependence on the United States.
"We cannot continue as before, too dependent on the United States; we need a much stronger Europe within a stronger NATO," he said.
He explained that defense production was increasing in Europe, Canada, and the United States, with more and more factories and production lines being opened, but added that further expansion was needed as Russia had put its economy on a war footing.
He praised Turkey's defense industry structure as an example of a broader national approach to security.
"Let me give you one example. Turkey, how do you organize your defense industry with the Turkish Defense Industry Secretariat which reports directly to the president, you have about 3000 defense industry companies working closely together: small, medium, and larger, basically exporting to the entire NATO region, and of course producing for Turkey itself and also exporting outside NATO," said the NATO Secretary-General.
"I think it's a very interesting model, and I know that some other allies are studying it to see if they can implement it in their countries," he added.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
Most Popular Tags
#Prabowo Subianto #donald trump #2026 World Cup #venezuela #konflik timur tengahPopular
