Ursula von der Leyen at NATO: ‘European Defense Has Finally Awoken’

“European defense has finally awoken,” emphasized Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, speaking today (June 24, 2025) from The Hague at the opening session of the Summit Forum for Defense Industry. Von der Leyen characterized as “historic” the goal of defense spending set at 5% by tomorrow’s NATO Summit for its allies, underlining the importance of how these investments will be spent. “The security architecture we have relied on for decades can no longer be taken for granted,” she added, welcoming Europe’s new actions over the past months. She referenced the ReArm Europe rearmament plan to mobilize €650 billion in defense investments over the next four years and the SAFE financial mechanism with €150 billion in loans for joint defense stockpiles. Additionally, she mentioned the program to reduce bureaucracy for defense investments proposed by the Commission and the eight Defense and Security Partnership Agreements worldwide, including the latest with Canada yesterday. The Commission President stressed that to ensure the defense industry delivers results “with speed and scale,” appropriate conditions must be created. As an example, she cited SAFE loans that incentivize joint procurement and long-term contracts, giving the defense industry the “predictability” needed to increase production. She noted that SAFE is open not only to EU member states but also to future members like Ukraine and partners such as the UK, Japan, Norway, and South Korea. Von der Leyen concluded by warning that over the next five years, Russia will test European defense capabilities, emphasizing that by 2030 Europe must have everything it needs for a “credible deterrence.”