President Of The European Council: If We Want Peace, We Must Be Ready For War

President of the European Council Charles Michel. (Wikimedia Commons/European Parliament)

JAKARTA - Europe must strengthen its defense capabilities and switch to "war economy" mode, in response to threats posed by Russia, European Council President Charles Michel said.

In an opinion published in the European newspaper and the Euractiv website, Michel, which will chair a meeting of EU leaders on Thursday to discuss support for Ukraine, said Europe needed to take responsibility for its own security, not relying too much on the support of countries such as the United States.

"If we don't get the European Union's response properly and don't provide enough support for Ukraine to stop Russia, we will be the next victim. Therefore, we must be prepared and switch to war economic mode," Michel said.

"If we want peace, we must prepare for war," he said.

Michel said that although Europe has made progress since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, including by increasing military production capacity by 50 percent, much progress is needed and, over the decades, Europe has not made sufficient investments in the security and defense sectors.

Michel urged EU countries to ensure Ukraine accepts what it needs on the battlefield, including by spending EU money on military equipment, using unexpected profits from Russian assets unable to move to buy weapons for Ukraine.

He also urged countries to facilitate investment in the defense sector, including taking into account changes to the mandate of EU lending agency, European Investment Bank, in order to support the European defense industry.

Yesterday, EU countries approved an agreement to increase block support for Ukrainian armed forces by 5 billion euros, amid warnings Kyiv forces needed more resources to counter the larger Russian army, when Washington's USD 60 billion aid to Ukraine was still stuck in Congress.