Kaja Kallas: "The EU should heed Trump's advice and boost defense investments."

The EU's chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated on Wednesday that the European Union must heed the call from U.S. President Donald Trump to significantly increase defense spending in light of the "existential threat" posed by Russia.

"Many of our national intelligence services are providing us with data indicating that Russia may test our defense readiness within three to five years," Kallas remarked while speaking at the annual conference of the European Defence Agency (EDA) in Brussels.

The EU's foreign policy chief urged EU countries to enhance their defense investments: "New U.S. President Donald Trump is right when he says that European defense spending is insufficient; now is the time to invest in defense," Kallas added.

Speaking separately in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also stated that "if Europe wants to survive, it needs to arm itself."

Background. It is worth noting that just the day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, while speaking in Davos, asserted that European countries should increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP. Currently, only a few of them have surpassed the 2% of GDP threshold.