KAZANLAK, Bulgaria — The EU needs to boost defense production as Washington threatens to phase out its presence in Europe, European Council head António Costa told POLITICO.
“We certainly need to produce more European [weapons] to be more autonomous,” Costa said. “The United States took the decision and we should respect that [their] focus is more in other regions of the world than in Europe.”
The president of the European Council made the remarks during a Monday visit to the Arsenal arms factory in central Bulgaria — the largest employer in the country with more than 10,500 workers.
