EU leaders endorsed plans to ramp up defence spending and reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine at an emergency summit on March 6, as concerns mount over the implications of US policy shifts under President Donald Trump.

The 27 EU heads of state welcomed European Commission proposals to allow greater fiscal flexibility for defence spending and to jointly borrow up to €150bn for military investments. In a joint statement, leaders called on their governments to urgently assess the proposals.

"The European Council stresses that Europe must become more sovereign, more responsible for its own defence and better equipped to act and deal autonomously with immediate and future challenges and threats with a 360° approach," the statement read.

"Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its repercussions for European and global security in a changing environment constitute an existential challenge for the European Union,” it added. 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled plans earlier this week to unlock up to €800bn in military spending over the coming years. The strategy includes a €150bn EU loan programme for defence projects and easing budget constraints to enable countries to raise military expenditure by 1.5% of GDP over four years — potentially generating an additional €650bn in spending.

The statement also called on the Commission to "explore further measures, taking into account the views of the Council, while ensuring debt sustainability, to facilitate significant defence spending at national level in all member states”. 

The summit took place amid heightened fears that a more aggressive Russia, emboldened by its ongoing war in Ukraine, could pose a direct threat to EU nations. European leaders are rethinking security policies following Trump’s move to withhold military and intelligence support from Ukraine, which many view as a sign of Washington stepping back from its long-standing defence commitments to Europe.

“Europe must take on this challenge, this arms race, and must win it,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said ahead of the meeting. “I am convinced that Russia will lose this arms race, just as the Soviet Union lost a similar one 40 years ago.”

However, while EU leaders reiterated their support for Kyiv, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close ally of Trump, refused to endorse a joint statement on Ukraine.

The remaining 26 leaders pledged continued financial and military aid to Kyiv, adding that “there can be no negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine”.

“The European Council reaffirms its continued and unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders,” said the statement published on the European Council website.

“Achieving ‘peace through strength’ requires Ukraine to be in the strongest possible position, with Ukraine’s own robust military and defence capabilities as an essential component. To that end, the European Union remains committed … to providing enhanced political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people,” it added.

The declaration on Ukraine was approved by all EU member states except Hungary, with Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico agreeing to join after a reference to halted Russian gas transit through Ukraine, an issue affecting Slovakia’s energy supply, was included in the document.

“The European Council calls on the Commission, Slovakia and Ukraine to intensify efforts towards finding workable solutions to the gas transit issue, while taking into consideration the concerns raised by Slovakia,” the document said.