Europe must rearm, tell US it’s ready to defend democracy —von der Leyen

LONDON — Europe urgently needs to rearm and member states must be given the fiscal space to carry out a surge in defense spending, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday after a meeting about support for Ukraine.

Von der Leyen added that Europe also needed to show the United States that it was ready to defend democracy.

"After a long time of underinvestment, it is now of utmost importance to step up the defense investment for a prolonged period of time," she told reporters after the meeting in London.

"Member states need more fiscal space to do a surge in defense spending."

Von der Leyen made the statement amid US President Donald Trump's upending US policy on the three-year-old war since he returned to the White House in January, leading to a contentious Oval Office exchange between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Vice President JD Vance last week. — Reuters