Former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, who will assume the presidency of the European Council on December 1, intends to organize an informal meeting of European leaders on February 3 “not far from Brussels” with the participation of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to jointly brainstorm on defense issues, writes the newspaper Pais. According to the publication, which was among the European media to which Costa gave an interview, the new head of the European Council and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country will take over the EU presidency from Hungary on January 1, 2025, are jointly organizing what they call “the day brainstorming" on defense issues.
“The event he wants to hold on February 3 “not far from Brussels” with European leaders, and to which he also wants to invite NATO Secretary General and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, will have a more informal format than the summit, which will thus give the leaders more space and freedom for discussion without the need to announce results,” the publication writes.
“We will discuss our relationship with NATO, what we can do between the 27 member states, what capabilities we need at the European level and, of course, how to finance them,” Costa said. At the same time, as the newspaper writes, he admits that the positions of countries still need to be brought closer together, but argues that there are no taboos, even when it comes to proposals such as European debt bonds for defense.
