The war in Ukraine presents Europe with a three-stage challenge it must overcome to see off Russia's threat to the continent's security, the foreign affairs chief of the 27-nation EU said on Sunday.
Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative, told the Munich Security Conference that the region was in "war mood" and must act quickly to secure its future, particularly by rapidly increasing supplies of weapons to Ukraine.
"Much more has to be done and much quicker," he said. "There is still a lot to be done. We have to increase and accelerate our military support."
While hailing the efforts to shore up its ally in Kyiv and reduce dependence on Russia gas exports to almost nil in only 12 months, Mr Borrell set out what needs to be done by the members.
"Short term we need ammunition," he said. "Medium term we need greater capacity in our defence industry. And from now, from tomorrow and for a long time, to look at our partners in [the developing world] in order that they participate in the world reaction against Russia for starting the war in Ukraine.
"We cannot think about European security without looking beyond and engaging with partners from around the world," he said. "Travelling around the world I see how powerful is the Russian narrative that wants to reduce the war in Ukraine to a conflict between the West and Russia and I hear a lot of accusations of double standards. We must debunk this narrative."
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the officials he met last week in Ukraine were concerned that European supplies were not arriving quickly enough. "I was in Kyiv two days ago and they were saying 'you do deliver weapons but you send weapons too late, too reluctantly, instead of doing it earlier and more decisively'.
Mr Borrell highlighted a big increase in defence spending in Europe announced by member states, referring to the one-off, €100 billion special budget allocated by Germany, which is also committed to raising its annual defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP. Poland has announced it will raise spending to 4 per cent of its GDP. Mr Borrell also pointed out that military spending in France was rising from pre-war €39 billion to €59 billion. All told, Europeans plan to spend an additional €70 billion in the annual outlay but much of that is not feeding into defence industry supply lines, with the first anniversary of the Russia invasion to be marked on Friday.
Kaja Kallas, the Estonian Prime Minister, warned that despite this uplift the scale of Russia's commitment to the war effort was not being matched. "The Russian military industry is working in three shifts," she said. "Russia is firing the monthly European production of artillery shells in a day.
"If you read the room in terms of the trends in Europe, there is clearly a demand and in a market economy when there's demand there also [needs to] be an increase in the capacity. So make it faster. Make it faster because Ukraine must be able to defend themselves to win this war so that Russia goes back to their borders. And this is not possible without the ammunition."
Ms Kallas has called for a Covid vaccine-style drive by Brussels to rapidly expand weapons and ammunition production in the weeks ahead and Mr Borrell said: "I completely agree with the Estonian Prime Minister's proposal and we are working on that — and it will work."
Mr Borrell said he had rebutted the offer from Wang Yi, the Chinese state counsellor, for Europeans to assert their strategic autonomy from the US by "thinking calmly" about what kind of efforts would bring peace in Ukraine.
"European leaders here said yesterday that Russia cannot win this war and that Ukraine has to prevail," he said. "Then let's go from the words to the facts and accelerate our military support to Ukraine."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, meanwhile, told the meeting that ammunition was a "critical issue" that he had discussed with defence industry leaders at the Munich conference. "I received assurances — and I have specific numbers — about the quantities that can be produced," he said later. "The questions are contracting them, financing and logistics."
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
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Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Essentials
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Malaysia Airlines all fly direct from the UAE to Kuala Lumpur and on to Penang from about Dh2,300 return, including taxes.
Where to stay
In Kuala Lumpur, Element is a recently opened, futuristic hotel high up in a Norman Foster-designed skyscraper. Rooms cost from Dh400 per night, including taxes. Hotel Stripes, also in KL, is a great value design hotel, with an infinity rooftop pool. Rooms cost from Dh310, including taxes.
In Penang, Ren i Tang is a boutique b&b in what was once an ancient Chinese Medicine Hall in the centre of Little India. Rooms cost from Dh220, including taxes.
23 Love Lane in Penang is a luxury boutique heritage hotel in a converted mansion, with private tropical gardens. Rooms cost from Dh400, including taxes.
In Langkawi, Temple Tree is a unique architectural villa hotel consisting of antique houses from all across Malaysia. Rooms cost from Dh350, including taxes.
RESULT
Copa del Rey, semi-final second leg
Real Madrid 0
Barcelona 3 (Suarez (50', 73' pen), Varane (69' OG)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
SM Town Live is on Friday, April 6 at Autism Rocks Arena, Dubai. Tickets are Dh375 at www.platinumlist.net
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
