Common debt, solidarity and strategic vision are the foundation of a solid European security architecture says S&D leader, Iratxe García.

During a plenary debate on European security and support for Ukraine, García called for a true defence union financed through common debt rather than national solutions while maintaining social spending and preserving the welfare state.

García called for a proposal to confiscate the €200 billion in frozen Russian state assets to rebuild and arm Ukraine, while also allowing Ukraine the use of weapons to strike military targets on Russian territory.

Iratxe García, S&D Group leader, said:

“Donald Trump’s return to power and his shameful rapprochement with war criminal Vladimir Putin have made it clear that we cannot rely on third parties to guarantee our security. This crisis offers us an unprecedented opportunity to take a leap forward in building a true defence union.

“Rearming Europe is a positive step, but it is only the first one. We cannot rely on national solutions that risk fragmentation such as the suspension of fiscal rules – the €650 billion will likely not be reached since not all countries have the same fiscal muscle. The €150 billion in loans of common debt must be the embryo of a new instrument that builds from NextGenerationEU. We need more common debt, more solidarity and more strategic vision while we keep the social spending and the welfare state.

“The construction of a genuine common defence and our support for Ukraine are two sides of the same coin. For three years now, a democratic nation has been suffering the brutal aggression of Putin; an aggression driven by imperialist paranoia, justified with lies, and aimed at stopping Ukraine’s integration into our democratic and prosperous Europe. 

“We cannot – and will not – allow Ukraine’s sacrifice to be in vain. And we cannot resign ourselves to helping Ukraine only to resist. We must help Ukraine to win this war with bold and decisive action. Action including seizing frozen Russian state assets to rebuild and arm Ukraine and allowing the use of our weapons to strike military targets on Russian soil."