All of Europe must realise the “urgency” of resisting Russia and the “predator” Vladimir Putin, Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday, in one of her most vociferous criticisms yet of the Russian leader.
Speaking in Riga alongside Latvia’s Prime Minister, Evika Siliņa, the Commission president said that Moscow’s “hybrid warfare” on Europe and increasingly fierce attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure demonstrate that “the whole of the EU” must bolster its “immediate readiness” to ward off a potential Russian invasion.
The comments come after the EU Delegation to Ukraine in Kyiv was “severely damaged” by a Russian strike on Thursday, deepening the rift with Moscow and dealing another blow to Brussels’ push for a diplomatic settlement to the war.
“Dear Evika, the risks your country and the other Baltic States warned us about, unfortunately, have materialised,” she said. “Putin is a predator. Putin’s proxies have been targeting our societies for years with hybrid attacks, with cyber attacks.”
“Latvia has the right sense of urgency, but the whole of the EU needs to understand that it is important to work on readiness, immediate readiness,” she added.
Von der Leyen’s comments also come amid deep reluctance among many Western European countries to boost military expenditure, despite the US’s waning military commitment to Europe and Russia’s battlefield gains in Ukraine three and a half years after its full-scale invasion.
Spain, one of 22 EU countries that are also members of NATO, was the only country to secure an “opt-out” from increasing military expenditure to 5% of annual GDP at the US-led military alliance’s summit in June, up from the previous 2% target.
Latvia, by contrast, is one of the highest per-capita military spenders in Europe, with the government expected to spend 3.65% of its yearly output on defence in 2025.
Von der Leyen, whose visit to Riga marks the start of a four-day trip to “frontline” EU countries, also hailed Latvia’s “impressive” developments in drone technology after a visit to a manufacturing facility earlier on Friday.
Von der Leyen will travel to Finland later on Friday before heading to Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and finally Romania on Monday.
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