Von Der Leyen’s Rearmament Plan Criticized by Opposition Leader Schlein

Rome: Elly Schlein, leader of the largest opposition party, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), expressed her disapproval on Tuesday regarding European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plan to ‘rearm Europe’ in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine. Schlein argued that the initiative, which could mobilize close to 800 billion euros, is not the appropriate path for Europe.

According to Ansa News Agency, Schlein stated that the proposal presented by von der Leyen is not the direction Europe needs. She emphasized that the European Union should focus on common defence rather than national rearmament, highlighting that these are fundamentally different approaches.

Schlein pointed out that von der Leyen’s plan, starting from its name, emphasizes rearmament without providing a clear political direction towards a unified European defence strategy. The PD leader noted that while the plan outlines tools to support national military spending, it fails to establish conditions for collaborative projects and system interoperability.

Schlein concluded by stressing the importance of a collective European defence system, warning that von der Leyen’s approach lacks the necessary framework to achieve such unity.