EU will not take over NATO functions - Kubilius

This was stated in an interview with Ukrinform by MEP Andrius Kubilius, who has been nominated for the post of European Commissioner for Defense and Space in the new European Commission.

Kubilius said that the EU was not claiming to take over NATO's role. He mentioned that he was often asked whether there would be competition between NATO and the European Commission, in reference to his future role as European Commissioner for Defense and Space. He expressed confidence that there would be no such competition, stating that the EU did not intend to interfere in areas where NATO was very successful, such as military planning or senior military leadership. However, he added that the EU could provide added value both to its member states and to NATO itself.

He noted that the EU has capacities that the Alliance does not have, such as mobilizing defense resources, appropriate funding, or developing regulatory legislation for the defense industry and military mobility.

At the same time, the European politician emphasized that transatlantic ties are very important and will always remain so. It is the European Union that must answer the question of how much responsibility it can take for the defense of the European continent.

“Not only Russia as a military power but also China is rising as a real military power and very aggressively developing its own military industry. So in the future, lets say next decades, perhaps  we can expect that the Americans will be forced to pay much more attention to deterring Chinese aggressive plans. That is why we need to expect that the American presence on the European continent, along with their ability to defend Europe, may deminish. That’s why we need to take care about our own defense into our hands,” Kubilius said.

He also emphasized that this desire of the EU for strategic autonomy does not mean any crisis in the EU-NATO relations, as the Alliance will only get stronger as a result of strengthening its European component.