Germany and five other countries have threatened to veto the bloc\u2019s next budget unless Brussels cuts hundreds of billions in spending<\/p>\n
The EU\u2019s next budget should be cut by hundreds of billions of euros and shift funding away from agricultural subsidies and towards military spending, Germany and five other member states have demanded, threatening to block a deal unless Brussels agrees to the reductions.
\nThe ultimatum was set out in a letter, seen by the Financial Times, to Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency and is overseeing the budget negotiations.
\nIt was signed by the leaders of Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Finland, which argued the EU must spend more on defense and other new priorities while reducing the European Commission\u2019s proposed \u20ac2 trillion budget for 2028\u20132034.
\nThe budget \u201cmust be fundamentally reformed. We must make choices,\u201d the leaders wrote, according to the Financial Times. A diplomat from one of the six countries told the newspaper there would be no agreement this year unless spending was cut.<\/p>\n
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\u2018They are arming Europe so much that the only way out they have is to do a war\u2019 – Lorenzo Maria Pacini<\/p>\n
Agriculture and support for poorer regions have historically accounted for about two-thirds of the EU budget. However, the six countries are demanding that those resources be redirected toward defense, competitiveness and innovation, adding that every area of spending must contribute to the proposed cuts.
\nThe EU\u2019s seven-year budget requires unanimous approval from all 27 member states. However, 17 others, including Spain and Italy, have opposed the German-led group\u2019s demands and have demanded that farm and regional funding be increased.
\nBerlin\u2019s defense push comes as part of a wider military buildup across Europe, driven by unsubstantiated claims that Russia could attack NATO countries, which Moscow has repeatedly rejected.<\/p>\n
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Lavrov warns UN over EU warmongering: As it happened<\/p>\n
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to build the strongest conventional army in Europe, while his government has expanded the armed forces and is considering a return to conscription, despite tens of thousands of Germans vehemently opposing the idea.
\nThe prospect of an imminent Russian attack has been challenged even within the six-country group. Finnish President Alexander Stubb said last week that Helsinki\u2019s intelligence sees \u201cno imminent military threat\u201d from Moscow and he has urged European leaders to remain calm.
\nMoscow has repeatedly stressed that it has no reason or intention to attack Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that claims to the contrary are \u201cnonsense\u201d that is meant to ramp up anti-Russian hysteria and justify inflated military budgets and continued spending on Ukraine.
\nAddressing the UN General Assembly last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that the sheer scale of Europe\u2019s military buildup could itself lead to a confrontation. He also accused the EU\u2019s ruling elites of being infected with \u201cthe virus of racial superiority\u201d and espousing extremist Russophobic ideas, while noting that Berlin\u2019s attempts to achieve military primacy on the continent is an attempt to create a \u201cFourth Reich.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Germany and five other countries have threatened to veto the bloc\u2019s next budget unless Brussels cuts hundreds of billions in spending The EU\u2019s next budget should be cut by hundreds…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t