EU Defense Chief Echoes Trumps Peace Through Strength in Push to Rearm Europe

A soldier fires a machine gun from a Leopard 2 tank at the Bundeswehr tank battalion 203 at the Field Marshal Rommel Barracks in Augustdorf, Germany, on Feb. 1, 2023. Martin Meissner/AP PhotoEuropean Union Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius has urged European governments to ramp up weapons production, open military stockpiles to Ukraine, and adopt a “peace through strength” approach to deter Russia, echoing a phrase heavily used by U.S. President Donald Trump in his push to revive America’s military might.In an interview with the Financial Times published on May 27, Kubilius said Europe must move away from the production of sophisticated, boutique weapons that are difficult and expensive to mass produce and instead shift to cheaper systems that can be made quickly and at scale.