Lithuania's Kubilius gets new EU defence commissioner role

Lithuania's Kubilius gets new EU defence commissioner role
by AFP Staff Writers
Strasbourg, France (AFP) Sept 17, 2024

Lithuania's Andrius Kubilius was tapped Tuesday for a new defence commissioner role in the European Commission, billed as central to the EU's ambitions to rearm faced with the threat from Russia.

As commissioner for defence and space, the former Lithuanian prime minister "will work on developing the European defence union and boosting our investment in industrial capacity," EU chief Ursula von der Leyen told reporters at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Faced with Russia's war on Ukraine, von der Leyen promised to name a designated defence commissioner as a key part of her new top team.

But while the position was originally billed as central to the EU's ambitions, there are doubts over how much power it will actually have.

Kubilius -- a two-time prime minister of Lithuania and member of the European Parliament since 2019 -- has been a vocal supporter of Kyiv's fight to repel Russia's invasion and a noted hawk towards both Moscow and Beijing.

Speaking after the announcement, Kubilius said that the EU needed to take "new bold steps" to raise the huge sums needed to bolster its defence industry as Russia rushes to rearm.

That should include considering whether borrowing money through joint "defence bonds" was needed among the potential options, he said.

"We do not have the luxury to spend a long time without real movement forward," he said.

Fluent in Russian, Kubilius was a leading light in Lithuania's drive for independence from the Soviet Union and not afraid to take on Moscow during his time as premier.

The mild-mannered physicist-turned-politician, who pursued an unpopular austerity drive while prime minister, sits with von der Leyen's centre-right European People's Party in parliament.

Until now, von der Leyen had been tight-lipped about what exactly the new defence job would entail.

One thing is sure -- the new defence commissioner is not an EU defence minister: the 27-nation bloc has no army of its own and is not planning to set up one any time soon.

Instead the main focus will be overseeing efforts to try to bolster the continent's defence sector, a major preoccupation since Russia's tanks rolled into Ukraine in 2022.

After years of underinvestment, Europe has struggled to ratchet up capacity and remains a long way behind Russia in the race to churn out arms.

While von der Leyen has estimated that the bloc will need to invest 500 billion euros ($550 billion) overall on defence over the next decade -- the figures on the table at an EU level are far below that.

According to diplomats, the questions swirling over the new job led EU powerhouses such as France and Poland to switch their priorities to obtaining other positions.

That means Kubilius could face a challenge carving out a niche in a turf war for influence in Brussels with some of the big names in the next commission.