The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is travelling to Brussels to participate in the informal European Council on Monday, February 3. During the summit, leaders will focus on European defense policy.

The Greek prime minister is expected to put forward a two-point proposal regarding the strengthening of European defense. The first concerns the reinforcement of European defense, and the second addresses its funding beyond national budgets.

Mitsotakis proposes the creation of a 100 billion euros European funding tool to be used for financing collective European security needs beyond national budgets. This funding tool will follow the successful model of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

At the same time, Mitsotakis suggests increased flexibility in fiscal rules to allow member states financial room for defense investments, without compromising their fiscal credibility.

The discussion on enhancing European defense, ahead of the proposals expected to be presented by the European Commission in mid-March, is taking place in a new context, following Donald Trump’s new presidency.

Europe’s greatest challenge, now, is to seek a unified stance and ways of constructive cooperation with the new U.S. administration.

In light of Donald Trump’s statements, discussions in Europe are already underway regarding increasing defense spending as a percentage of GDP within NATO.

During the informal European Council lunch, the EU-NATO cooperation will be discussed with the participation of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be present, at the dinner of the 27 member states, as EU-UK relations on security and defense will be on the agenda of discussions.

Greece is at the forefront of the discussion on the necessity of a strong European defense, as its defense spending already exceeds 3% of GDP.

The Greek prime minister was one of the first European leaders to have supported Europe’s strategic autonomy and the need to reinforce Europe’s defense and the defense industry amidst multiple challenges.

Mitsotakis was also among the 19 EU leaders who, at Finland’s initiative, signed the letter to the European Investment Bank requesting an increase in funding for European defense.