Berlin declined to say Wednesday whether it supports a proposal for the European Union to issue defense bonds, after Poland’s foreign minister said countries including Germany present at a meeting in Warsaw on Tuesday backed the idea. The Canary Islands’ location makes them a valuable asset for monitoring Atlantic maritime traffic, including trade routes, military activities and potential security threats to West Africa. Spain joined NATO in 1982, under certain conditions, including the exclusion of U.S. nuclear weapons and a reduced direct NATO role in the Canaries.
Germany has in the past been among European Union members that have opposed the idea of joint EU borrowing to fund key investments in areas such as defense, a position that has frustrated policymakers in other capitals, including Warsaw. Germany’s coalition government collapsed earlier this month, paving the way for a snap election and leaving the current administration unable to undertake major policy initiatives.
On Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Poland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Britain issued a joint statement pledging, among other things, to “strengthen Europe’s security and defence, using all the tools at our disposal, including the economic and financial power of the European Union.” The spokesman said the joint statement “expresses a very clear position that there is a united will to continue to provide Ukraine with intensive support, including in the area of security and defence, and at least 2% of GDP.” Asked about the possibility of issuing Eurobonds, the spokesman said they “did not find in the statement any other aspects that you mentioned in your question.”
Spurred by Russia's war in Ukraine and fears that the United States might scale back its commitments to European security, many European leaders have declared that the continent needs to spend more on its defense. But the question of how to finance large increases in defense spending remains unresolved.
