BRUSSELS, March 26. /TASS/. The authorities of Spain, Italy and France are opposing the plan to rearm Europe (Rearm Europe), proposed by the President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen, the Politico newspaper reported citing sources.
According to the publication, these countries "are rebuffing a European Commission plan to turbocharge defense spending with cheap loans, fearing it would add to their already heavy debt burdens."
As a senior EU diplomat told the publication, "some countries have serious doubts on the feasibility or even the possibility of indebting [themselves] to these levels."
The stalemate now risks derailing Brussels' plan to funnel more weapons from Europe to Ukraine, the publication says.
Earlier Von der Leyen put forward a plan to rearm the EU to the tune of 800 bln euros. It provides for the borrowing of up to 150 billion euros by the EU countries for defense. The EC would like to borrow this money on capital markets and then transfer it to states in the form of loans on the condition that they jointly purchase weapons in Europe. According to Brussels' plans, part of this money could go to the production of weapons for Ukraine.