Manfred Weber, president of the European People's Party (EPP) and CSU politician, talked to FOCUS online of the increasingly one-sided natureof the Russia-Ukraine war:
Every day, Putin is testing how far he can go, especially on the Finnish and Baltic borders. The only possible response to this is European unity and strength.
In the interview, he also took a jab at the prime minister of Hungary, by saying:
Let's get rid of the principle of unanimity in EU foreign policy so that Orban, Hungary's prime minister, cannot blackmail us any more.
The German politician was referring to stripping EU countries of their previously acquired rights in the decision making process.
The pro-war Weber, who has argued for compulsory conscription, including women, in Europe, said the EU's defense capabilities should be bolstered, alluding to a common missile defense system.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, together with Greek Prime Minister Kiriakos Micotakis, proposed Skyshield, as the EU's common missile defense system. But there is no response from Berlin. This is tragic. Because such a system is absolutely in Germany's interest,
lamented the pro-war Weber.
As Magyar Nemzet reported earlier, the EPP chief has come up with the crazy idea of the European Union setting up a common compulsory conscription system. The proposal is likely to be debated in the newly-constituted EP, unless pro-war MEPs bent on escalating the Russia-Ukraine war can be squeezed out. V4NA writes that the body set up after the June European elections will be among the first to discuss the possibilities, and that the vote could prove crucial.
Weber said that improving Europe's defense capabilities was too slow a process.
We must be strong enough now to defend ourselves and stand up for Ukraine. This must be proven over the next five years. The goal: a strong European pillar of defense and, in the long term, a European army,
with which he basically admitting that the EU's guiding principle is to drag out the war for at least another five years.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban spoke about the need to create a common European defense force at the Tusvanyos Festival in 2016. Back then, the Hungarian PM said that NATO membership is important and good, that it contributes to the security of Hungarians, and that its protective umbrella is vital for the security of Central Europe. And now, nearly a decade later, Weber is campaigning with Viktor Orban's words.
"With Britain's departure from the EU, the bloc's military power will significantly decrease, and we cannot remain in this defenseless situation in terms of military policy," the Hungarian prime minister argued at the time. Since then, time has proved him right, and Weber, echoing Orban's words, went further.
We urgently need a European defense commissioner to better coordinate our armaments efforts. We have 17 types of tanks, the Americans have one. That alone shows how we waste a lot of money on this continent.
