The article discusses the recent meeting of European Union (EU) leaders, where they discussed and decided on several key issues related to defense spending and Ukraine. The main points from the article are:
* EU leaders have agreed to create a 150 billion euro ($162 billion) fund for member states to borrow money to spend on collective European defense or to support Ukraine.
* This fund could mean an additional 650 billion euros ($705 billion) spent on defense in the EU over four years if all member states decide to ramp up defense spending by 1.5% of GDP on average.
* The bloc will also loosen its debt rules, allowing member states to dramatically increase their defense spending by borrowing more.
* Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk emphasized that Europe must join an arms race and win it due to the war in Ukraine and Russia’s new approach.
* Hungary was excluded from a joint statement on support for Ukraine, with 26 other EU leaders ignoring Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban’s opposition.
* The exclusion of Hungary sets up another clash between Budapest and the rest of the EU on upcoming debates about renewing sanctions against Russia and continuing to freeze Russian assets.
Overall, the article suggests that the EU is gearing up for a new world order, where it will have to go it alone in terms of defense spending and Ukraine support.
