EU to strengthen defence system amid Trump admin’s ‘tough love’

The European Union is bolstering its defence spending amidst US President Donald Trump's calls for spending more money by Nato countries on itself rather than asking the United States, and said that "no love" is better than “tough love.”US defence secretary Pete Hegseth had called Trump’s insistence on Nato countries strengthening military spending on their own as an act of “tough love". Kaja Kallas, the EU's diplomatic chief, also called to strengthen ties with the Asia-Pacific region at the Shangri-La Defence Forum in Singapore.Trump has been quite persistent about increasing defence spending for the Nato countries, suggesting five per cent of GDP.

He has said Washington will not tolerate “freeloaders” anymore. Speaking to delegates, Hegseth had said earlier, "we're pushing our allies in Europe to own more of their own security to invest in their defence".Kallas said that Europe comprises multiple countries that have realised a long time ago that investment in defence is necessary. "It is a good thing we are doing more, but what I want to stress is that the security of Europe and the security of the Pacific ‘is very much interlinked," she said as reported by AP.

She stressed that the EU is rapidly becoming a “global security partner”. Kallas pointed out instances of North Korean soldiers serving in the Russia-Ukraine war, and China providing military hardware to Russia.Referring to the US secretary of defence’s speech, she said,” I think again, if you are worried about China, you should be worried about Russia.”Earlier this month, Germany’s defence minister announced that the country has committed 5% of its GDP to defence while the EU is burdened with a loan of 800 billion euros, which needs to be paid back by 2058.