Greece’s Defense Minister Nikos Dendias on Wednesday called on the EU to invest in building anew a basic defense industry during a public discussion at the College of Europe at Bruges, Belgium.
Dendias used the example of drones, explaining that Russia produces thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles a day, Iran does the same, Turkey could be doing the same, while Europe has the knowledge to do so but does not have the capability to.
He said that in terms of innovation as well, Europe must set up a unified European ecosystem that could find innovative solutions for the problems the European army faces. He cautioned against replicating whatever happened in the past with large ships, large tanks, and airplanes.
Another example the defense minister spoke about was the Stealth airplane, which Europe does not produce. At this time, he pointed out, the only such available type of aircraft is the F-35; therefore, Greece has no other choice but to buy these airplanes.
European airplanes like the Rafale, Typhoon, and Eurofighter jets are very good but not stealthy. In the future, Dendias said, we will not be speaking of jets but of a single fighter airplane, a platform like an F-35, and a cluster of drones around it that will engage in battle.
Therefore, the Greek minister said, to do this, Europe must take a big leap forward, and this needs more than funds – it also needs a different mindset.
Related: Greece Plans to Allocate $27 Billion on Defense Over 12 Years
Dendias pointed out that European autonomy does not mean a European force will not act as a supplementary one to NATO, but Europe has lived in a manner that allowed defense to take a second seat to priorities for years, and is now a decade behind.
Even if one were to order ships tomorrow, he underlined, they would not be delivered before 7 or 8 years, and a submarine would take 12 years to build. Autonomy is a long-term process, he noted.
Funding such autonomy would cost a lot more than 150 billion euros, but even if the funding were in place, the infrastructure is missing; therefore, Europe needs to work a lot more effectively to create autonomy within a decade.
Independently of what today’s choices of the United States are, that country is a functional democracy and a country that has saved Europe twice, in two World Wars, the minister said, adding that he is entirely against writing the transatlantic partner off.
Dendias also spoke of Europe’s deployment in Ukraine, saying that such an event is going to be very difficult for the current capabilities of Europe. But as a peacekeeping force, if peace is achieved in Ukraine, it is a different story.
For example, Greece he said is very good at locating mines, and could contribute in this. Overall, whatever Europe is doing is in the right direction. But the war in Ukraine has changed modern warfare entirely – and this requires a complete reform, the Greek defense minister said.
This would mean professional soldiers besides mandatory service by citizens, and it would mean that Europe has to prepare to handle increasing hybrid threats. It will take a long time for the continent to build its defense force, but it needs to prepare for it, he concluded.
Related: Greece’s ‘Achilles’ Shield’: Building a Multi-Layered Defense for the 21st Century
