Politico: France, Italy, and Spain Reject von der Leyen's Plan for European Rearmament

France, Italy, and Spain have expressed their opposition to the European rearmament plan proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, citing concerns over rising national debts. This was reported by RIA Novosti, referencing Politico.

Previously, Ursula von der Leyen had proposed raising €800 billion over four years to finance the "rearmament of Europe." A significant portion of these funds would be sourced from the budgets of European nations, while the European Commission would offer budgetary relief to EU countries and reallocate funds originally designated for regional development towards military expenditures.

"Some countries have serious doubts about the feasibility or even the possibility of increasing their debt to such levels," the publication quoted a senior EU diplomat.

According to Politico, Southern European countries are opposing the EU's rearmament plan.

"The resistance led by France, Italy, and Spain poses a significant obstacle to von der Leyen's ambition to strengthen Europe’s military autonomy," the publication notes.

Insiders quoted by Politico suggest that the authorities in Madrid and Rome are "buying time" in the hope that the European Commission President will soften her stance on defense-related debt obligations before the upcoming summit of the bloc's leaders in June.

"This deadlock threatens to derail Brussels' plan to send more weaponry from Europe to Ukraine," the publication emphasizes.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has remarked that any shipments containing arms for Ukraine will become legitimate targets for Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that NATO countries are "playing with fire" by supplying weapons to Ukraine. The Kremlin has reiterated that the influx of weapons into Ukraine from the West does not contribute to the success of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and will have negative repercussions.

Lavrov also noted that the United States and NATO are directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, not only through arms supplies but also by training personnel on the territory of the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and other countries.