- 11 hours ago
Who will pay to rearm Europe? MEPs Schirdewan and Terras face off in The Ring
In our second episode of "The Ring", we debate the highly political topic of Rearming Europe that has become a geopolitical goal of the European Commission
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/11/12/who-will-pay-to-rearm-europe-meps-schirdewan-and-terras-face-off-in-the-ring
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
In our second episode of "The Ring", we debate the highly political topic of Rearming Europe that has become a geopolitical goal of the European Commission
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/11/12/who-will-pay-to-rearm-europe-meps-schirdewan-and-terras-face-off-in-the-ring
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello there and welcome to The Ring, Euronews' brand new debating show broadcasting from the
00:14European Parliament here in Brussels. Once a week, two elected members of the European Parliament
00:20go face to face on some of the most pressing issues of our time. This week, we zoom in on
00:26the topic of re-arming Europe and ask the crucial point who will pay.
00:34Europe wants to re-arm fast. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, EU countries have been
00:40pouring billions into defence. The upside? A European Union that is more secure and less
00:47dependent on the US. Supporters argue that a bigger defence industry also means more jobs
00:54and a stronger geopolitical role for Europe. The downside? The cost. Critics say that every
01:00euro spent on tanks and drones is one euro less for schools, hospitals or climate action.
01:08So the question isn't just how much to spend, but how to spend. Can Europe find a balance?
01:14But can Europe find a balance? That is the question we have for our contenders. Let's meet them.
01:26Rio Teres, Estonian army general and member of the European Parliament for the EPP Center
01:33Right Group. Vice President of the Security and Defence Committee. A cheerleader for defence
01:38and spending. He has stated, what we need is for the market to provide the necessary quantities
01:45of ammunition, missiles and various defence equipment.
01:50Martin Scherdewan, co-chair of the left group in the European Parliament. He strongly criticises
01:56shifting money away from social programmes to defence. His verdict on the European Commission's
02:03re-arm Europe plan was blunt. Investing billions in war will not make the world safer or more peaceful,
02:11he said.
02:14Rio Teres and Martin Scherdewan, welcome to the ring. The idea here is to give our viewers
02:20a taste of your debates inside the European Hemicycle. So I hope you feel right at home.
02:26Rio Teres, let's start with you. You say the market should be providing defence equipment,
02:30start with tight budgets. Who should pay? The nations should pay.
02:34But nations are broke?
02:36Nations aren't broke. They have been able to spend money on many other things. For example,
02:41climate change. At the current moment, where the war is imminent in Europe, we need to get
02:47stronger because Europe has not spent enough in the last 35 years. We are not talking about
02:55arms race. We are talking about fulfilling the promises we have made ourselves many years ago.
03:01But where is that money going to come from? Well, as Rio said, for now it's coming from the public
03:07budget. And this is, of course, a problem because every euro invested into the arms manufacturers will
03:13not go into, for instance, hospitals, schools, digital infrastructure or the necessary transition of our
03:22industries. So this is a huge problem. I would suggest that we take the money from those who have it, that we discuss new
03:29own resources for the European budget. And that means that we tax the rich, that we tax multinational enterprises, and that
03:37we also discuss something like a digital taxation for big tech companies.
03:40Would you agree with this idea?
03:41No, not at all. I think the defence is still a prerogative of the nations and not the European Union as a whole.
03:48So the nations themselves need to fulfill their own promises. And if somebody tells me that it is not
03:55possible to build up a social state and invest in the defence, that's wrong because history has shown us that
04:01German Federal Republic of Germany, during many years in the Cold War, was able to build up one of the most capable
04:09social systems in the world. At the same time, they invested 3.5% on the GDP on defence, because it is
04:16necessary and people understood why.
04:18What about the idea of defence euro bonds, Martin Schurdevant?
04:20Well, first of all, we don't have a Marshall Plan today for the European Union, European defence, because you were referring
04:26to Germany. That was the case back in the day. So there were huge investments coming from the international community to Germany.
04:32But this is not the case today. So we need to really think about how to raise money. And you mentioned euro bonds for
04:38the arms industry. I don't think that this is a good idea because we are already on the way to take on more debts
04:44by giving loans to the member states that they can then invest into military purposes. So I do not think that this is a good idea to go on following this wrong path.
04:56I think we are derailing the discussion here. It's not about to spend money on health care systems or defence. It's about
05:04defending Europe, because we see that an aggressive Russia is willing and able to use conventional military weapons against
05:12countries. And Putin has very often declared that he wants to rearrange the security system in Europe. And if we are not ready, if we don't
05:20fulfill our own taking tasks, then we are not able to defend Europe as a whole and separate countries of it.
05:28And Martin Schroeder, that is a fair point, what Rio Terrace makes there, because just think of Brussels just the other day.
05:34The airport was shut down for 30 minutes because of drone incursions, allegedly Russian drone incursions buzzing over Dool,
05:41the nuclear plant right by the port of Antwerp. Brussels had to call the UK in order to come and help, but wasn't able to defend itself in this situation.
05:48Yeah, exactly. That was supposedly a Russian drone. We don't know that yet. Well, I'm not defending Russia here.
05:53Maybe it was Russia. Maybe it was the third country. Maybe it was a private here. Who knows?
05:56But obviously, Europe is tested also in the military, in its military capabilities.
06:01So, of course, we need to do something in order to discuss how to defend the European Union, how to defend the member states,
06:08in case there would be a violation of international law, meaning an attack against one of the member states.
06:14This is not the case so far, so we can take time, but just a little bit, to discuss how to spend wisely the money that we have at our hands into defense.
06:23And a new security order does not only depend on defense capabilities, it also depends on how we implement international law,
06:31how we strengthen international organizations. And this is something that I'm really missing, especially in the discussion of the conservatives.
06:38Reaction to that?
06:40Now, I agree that there are all other mechanisms there, but the one and the only which really is understood by Putin is if you have more weapons than him, he has.
06:50So it is very easy for me, very plain. If you are strong enough, then he will start to negotiate.
06:56If you are not strong, he will laugh about you as he has done throughout the years in the last two decades.
07:03And are you pleased with the trends lately? We've seen defense spending has gone up in the past few years, Rio Terrace.
07:09According to Eurostat, between 2021 and 2024, the total defense spending of the EU countries rose by 37 percent.
07:18Whereas when it comes to social protection, it only rose by a tiny bit.
07:23How do you feel when you read this data, Martin Schrodovan?
07:26Well, I think this is completely out of line, this development.
07:29I mean, Rio referred to Russia and the threat Russia poses to the European Union.
07:34This is always the explanation why we have to spend more and more and more money into our defense capabilities.
07:40But I think, actually, that we really need to discuss what that means.
07:45In the end, it means a new wave.
07:47Well, what is your solution then to protect Europe? Imagine if there was potentially an invasion, if an EU member state was invasion.
07:51If we have a look at the numbers, let's take a look at the numbers.
07:54NATO is spending nine or ten times what Russia is spending for its defense and military capabilities.
08:00Even the European NATO member states spend four times what Russia spends.
08:05So there is no rational explanation why we should again spend more and more.
08:09But what about Russia's nuclear arsenal? They have 5,500 nuclear...
08:14They have that for decades now. That is no new development, right?
08:18How can we deter against that threat, Rio?
08:20The problem is that we have been spending less and less and less throughout the last 30 years.
08:25It's not about we are spending more. It's about starting to spend at all.
08:31Because the defense spendages, if you look from 1990 to 2020, then you will see how much we have lost,
08:40how big period of time we have lost because we have not invested what we promised ourselves.
08:45It's not about 5%, 10%, it's about just 2%. It's exactly the same amount of money that Estonia saved introducing the digital government system.
08:56Is it possible to find the balance, do you think?
08:59It would be possible if you would look for other resources.
09:02And as I said, we need to discuss the introduction of new own resources.
09:07And now we have the discussion with the multi-union financial framework, which allows us to look at new own resources.
09:12And this for me, of course, means that we need to redistribute wealth in the society if we have those challenges in front of us.
09:18And we need to tackle them. I agree. We need to tackle the challenges.
09:21That's not going to happen. But therefore, we need money.
09:22That's not going to happen. I mean, the budget talks have already kicked off in Brussels. We can see how torturous they are.
09:28The strength of the European Union lies also on competitiveness.
09:32And if we start to introduce new taxes and distribute wealth, which we don't have right now, because we are not in the very good economical situation, then we will have less money to spend on defense.
09:45So we need to make Europe competitive again, which it's not right now.
09:50At the same time, we need to invest and not the European Union, but the countries need to invest what they have promised to their defense.
09:59But then, Rio, really, you need to mention that because you're not doing that, then I will do it.
10:04Each euro invested into arms manufacturers means that there is no money left for social cohesion, for instance.
10:11And this will cause a new wave of austerity in Europe, which in the end means that those who have the least, suffer the most working class families,
10:20will pay for this arms race that you are advocating for.
10:24Well, that conflict is not existent. We see in Estonia, the government decided to spend 5% on the GDP on defense.
10:32And the Estonian mothers want the mother care as well. But the people are supporting it by 80% because they understand the urgency of the situation.
10:39And you don't need social services in Russia because, as we see in Donetsk, Russia does not give you social services.
10:47It kills your people, your children and all so on. So it's not comparable.
10:51But this is not Russia. This is the European Union and people are used to relying on...
10:54Exactly. But our citizens expect us to invest into public services and social security systems.
11:00And defense. And they are rightfully doing so.
11:02And make sure that the country exists.
11:04Yes, I mean, they do exist.
11:06At the moment where it is attacked by Russia, it is not forgiven. And that is the discussion about.
11:12Well, let me stop you there, as it is now time to take the gloves off.
11:16Now, I want to give our viewers a real taste of the European Parliament chambers.
11:26Where MEPs fire hard questions at each other.
11:30That means Rio Terrace and Martin Schrodoven will now have the opportunity to challenge each other directly.
11:35Just like you do in the hemicycle. So Martin Schrodoven, can you start, please?
11:40Rio, we met before and you often say that this war in Ukraine will be won on the battlefields.
11:48Now then, since Trump engaged in whatsoever diplomatic efforts and even Ursula von der Leyen changed her language.
11:56Do you still believe that this war will be won on the battlefield while Russia is advancing?
12:01Or do you agree with me that we need to ramp up our diplomatic efforts to end this war?
12:06Well, I have always been in the position and think that dialogue is the best way.
12:12But dialogue needs two sides. If one side is not willing to talk, you can do whatever you want.
12:18Putin will not come back to the table if we are not strong enough.
12:22And right now Putin does not think we are strong enough and we are not supporting Ukraine in the numbers we really need to do.
12:30Yes, the war is won at the battlefield.
12:32And Putin invaded a country and it seems like he is literally getting away with it.
12:36Rio Teres, it is your opportunity now to address the question to Martin Schrodoven.
12:40The response to that, are you really sure that the known war criminal, Putin, is willing to come to the negotiation table in the situation where he has not listened to any discussions beforehand?
12:56And why do you think so? And should we sit with the four criminals at one table?
13:02Well, we need to end this war. This should be the objective here, not judging that war criminal.
13:08I agree. He is a war criminal, but we need to end this war.
13:10And therefore, we need to discuss how to...
13:12The discussion with a war criminal is legal.
13:13Please let me answer. Please let me reply.
13:15And therefore, we need to end this war. And therefore, we need to think about how to do it.
13:19And I think there are several options on the table.
13:21First, engaging in a more coordinated diplomatic effort, like including also in taking on board China, who wields a huge influence over Russia and also India.
13:35Russia is dependent on, economically dependent on India. So we need to take them on board.
13:39And then, of course, we need to target the sanctions. We have a sanctions regime in place, but we need to be more precise in targeting the industrial military complex of Russia.
13:49Do you endorse the fact that Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, and the Slovakian Robert Fijo, have the lines still directly open to Moscow and Beijing?
13:57Do I endorse that Trump invited Putin to Anchorage, Alaska? Well, what can I say about that?
14:05He did that and he kicked off as hard as it is to admit for European politicians.
14:11He kicked off a process that might in the end eventually lead to an end, diplomatic end of the war.
14:18We will see if this happens or not. But he kicked off something new.
14:22Would you agree with that?
14:24It's naive. It's naive to think that Putin comes to the table.
14:29All attempts of Trump, of von der Leyen, many presidents have called, everybody has called him.
14:35He doesn't care about it because it's he feels that he's strong enough to go on with the war.
14:41Time for you to address your next question to Martin Cherdovan.
14:44Putin announced that he wants to rearrange the world order to say what it was in 1997.
14:50So coming to the discussion table, would you really think that NATO should withdraw from the Baltic states, from Finland and Sweden, etc., from Poland even, or even from the Eastern Germany, in order to please Putin and bring him to the discussion table?
15:09But, Rio, I never said something like that. I never said something like that. But what I'm proposing is that we work on a stable security, international security order.
15:19And, of course, NATO plays a role in that. But we need to take into consideration security guarantees for many political actors now, like China, like India, like Russia, like European Union and, of course, the United States.
15:32But that means to rethink a stable international order. And we are far from that because the European Commission doesn't play any geopolitical role.
15:40You're a chance to address the question now to Rio.
15:45All right. So we already touched upon the question of financing our expenditure for military purposes.
15:53And you are advocating for using public money, public budget, which, as I already explained, will lead to austerity, a new wave of austerity.
16:03Would you agree with me that we need new sources to raise money if we want to tackle our challenges both at international level and internally at the social level?
16:16No, I think we should invest more wisely. We should try to cooperate more. We should try to make our defense industry more effective so that for every euro we will get more impact.
16:29But never. I would agree with more taxes on European citizens.
16:35No, not on citizens. He's referring to tax the rich.
16:38Tax the rich.
16:39But the rich, as far as I know, the rich are the citizens of Europe as much as the poor.
16:44Well, then let's tax.
16:46Absolutely.
16:47Then let's tax U.S., American and Chinese big tech companies.
16:51Would you be in favor of that?
16:52Well, I would say competitiveness is not won by taxes.
16:56It's by investing in the new technologies and by making ourselves stronger, not trying to get money from the others.
17:04Look, we have heard now from Martin Shurdovan and Rio Terras, and I'd like to bring in a new voice now.
17:15The EU Council President, Antonio Costa, has been making headlines of late for his ambitious statements on the future of European defense.
17:22Speaking to EU heads of state and government recently, he said,
17:26To build the Europe of defense, we need efficient political oversight and coordination.
17:32And he said, our defense ministers need to play an increased role.
17:35Martin, how do you interpret this statement?
17:37Is it the first step towards a European defense union or may I add an EU army?
17:42Yeah, well, he hasn't been very clear about that.
17:44But what I think he is right about is that we really need to coordinate better.
17:49So for now, we are just discussing imaginary figures that the European Commission came up with based on no assessment of whatsoever we really need.
17:57Is there an appetite, Rio Terras, to coordinate?
17:59I mean, the EU and NATO together and industry, of course, together, because they're all competing.
18:04Yeah, well, I think NATO has put requirements on the on the countries of members of NATO, which most of which are part of European Union.
18:12So we have the requirements, we know the numbers.
18:15But yes, I think the coordination between the ministers of defense is important in order to enable Commissioner Kubelius to work with them together better solutions for our own defense.
18:28And where is the market hedging its best?
18:30Because we remember a few years ago, everyone in Brussels was discussing the European Green Deal as the growth model.
18:35Now it's all about defense.
18:37We should be balanced.
18:38We should not focus in one and then another.
18:41We should do both.
18:42We should be social state also.
18:43I agree.
18:44Well, this week, I mean, it needs to be balanced.
18:46This week, COP30 is taking place.
18:47How can we rearm Europe by 2030 and also go green?
18:51This is not going to happen with the proposal that the Commission just made for the multi-unit financial framework for the EU budget.
18:56It's focusing solely on armament, rearmament Europe, and not focusing on the Green Deal anymore.
19:02Your party family wants to get rid of the Green Deal, and it's also putting into question the social state of Europe.
19:09The biggest threat to sustainability of Europe is if Russia attacks European countries.
19:15And again, it's always Russia.
19:17It is.
19:18It is.
19:19Today, backed by China, not believing in naive thinking that China will be on our side.
19:25Never.
19:26A communist country will never be on European side because we are democracies and we are defending here democracy.
19:32The reason why Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022 and 2014 was because Ukraine wanted to have an association agreement with the European Union.
19:41It's not about NATO.
19:42It's about free will of a free country.
19:44It is time now to take a short break here on the Ring, but stay with us.
19:48We will be back very, very soon with some more political punch.
20:00Welcome back to The Ring, EURO News' new weekly show.
20:03I'm joined by MEPs Martin Scherterman from the left and Rio Terras from the European People's Party.
20:09And the idea here is to bring the European Parliament's debates to your couch.
20:14So what about you?
20:15What do you think about the EU's drive to pump up defence?
20:18Well, according to EU data, 78% of Europeans are indeed concerned about the EU's defence insecurity in the next five years.
20:28That's eight in ten Europeans.
20:31How do you feel about that?
20:32Well, I can understand that.
20:34Well, obviously, the international order is in turmoil.
20:37And of course, we need to provide also to our citizens stability.
20:41And that also means defence stability.
20:43What you're saying is very similar to what the head of the EPP said this week.
20:46He said, alone and naked, we stand in a world of storms.
20:49Yeah, well, it only shows that I'm right.
20:52We need to spend more in defence and try to do it clever.
20:56What do your voters think?
20:57Well, our voters, my voters back home understand the necessity.
21:02We understand it already since 2010, as Estonia was spending 2% of the GDP on defence, as we promised to NATO.
21:10Today, it's 5% plus which we invest.
21:14But the Estonia's problem with one million people is that our 100% is too small.
21:19And we need to make sure that countries like Germany, France, Spain and Italy spend the same.
21:27You're praising, of course, your country of Estonia, which is obviously your job as an MEP.
21:30But it's a much smaller country.
21:31Other countries like your in Germany, much bigger challenges in this area.
21:35Yeah, well, the 5% target of the NATO means that Germany has to spend hundreds of millions to the military.
21:43And this is, of course, a huge burden both for the public budget, but also for the citizens.
21:49And this is debated very controversially in Germany.
21:52And actually, I do not agree with that, because the amount of money will only lead to cuts in public services and social security.
21:59And this is unacceptable.
22:00So citizens are not really on board with this plan?
22:0280% of the people in Europe.
22:04They are not that clearly in Germany.
22:07I mean, they are concerned.
22:08They are in Germany also.
22:09It's not that German public is against defence spending.
22:12That is not true.
22:13I think they're concerned, Uncle, when it comes to the money coming from their pocket.
22:16Yeah, but they are against cuts.
22:17Well, that's always the case.
22:18And that's why democracy works.
22:20You elect people who take decisions for you.
22:22And then, next time, you elect the other people.
22:25No, that is too easy.
22:26That is too easy, Leo.
22:27Because that means, actually, that public money, meaning taxpayers' money, meaning our money and the working class families' money,
22:33goes directly into the pockets of the big shareholders of the arms manufacturers.
22:37This is not that easy.
22:38And people are discussing that.
22:39We have to be honest there.
22:40No, it makes Europe stronger.
22:41It makes Europe stronger.
22:43But can you name a single situation where a world power without military packing has changed history?
22:52But Martin Sheridan is right.
22:53The arms industry will get much richer.
22:55But will ordinary citizens benefit too?
22:57We should use more SMEs.
22:59We should get the money.
23:00Then we should tax them.
23:01Then we should tax them.
23:02Yeah.
23:03But you don't agree with that idea.
23:04We should not tax the big ones, but we should make sure...
23:07Tax the small ones.
23:08Make sure that the money comes to the SMEs, to the small technology companies, which right now are disrupting the battlefield in Ukraine.
23:19We need to get the big money, not to the big primes, but to the SMEs who are creating working space, who are creating jobs for the ordinary people who can earn more money.
23:31The money comes back to you if you are clever enough.
23:34It's a wishful thinking, do you think, Martin Sheridan, this idea to re-arm Europe by 2030?
23:38No, not really wishful thinking because there are huge investments on the way.
23:42And I agree with the idea that we need to be capable to defend ourselves.
23:47But as also Rio now confirmed, we need to spend the money more wisely in order to address the new challenges.
23:53Cyber attacks, drone warfare, etc.
23:55And we have to be very precise in our assessment what we need as a society, as European society.
24:01And that assessment hasn't been done yet.
24:03And I do completely disagree.
24:05That's why I do completely disagree with the proposals on the table.
24:08And Rio, how are you convincing other countries?
24:10Because, of course, Estonia is very close to Russia.
24:13You feel the threats every day.
24:14Countries, though, like Spain, Italy, Greece, they have other issues on their minds, like migration, for example.
24:19Well, the war criminal Putin is helping us always.
24:22If I have difficulties to convince somebody, he would attack somebody.
24:26And the events in Brussels airport recently show us that everybody is in danger.
24:33Everybody.
24:34From Spain to Portugal, everywhere.
24:36And we need to understand that the migration is not an existential threat.
24:41Migration is a threat to our way of life, to our economy.
24:46But war is an existential threat.
24:49And that is a difference.
24:50Final reaction to that, would you agree?
24:51Yeah, well, I really don't get that.
24:53I mean, how can you say that migration?
24:55You put it all in one basket.
24:57You put it all in one basket.
24:59You put it in one basket.
25:00There is no clear political line.
25:01Why do you bring now migrants?
25:03I was not putting it all in one basket.
25:04I was just highlighting the challenges and the issues facing other member states.
25:09But it is now time to move on to our fifth and final round.
25:13Are you ready?
25:19Now it is time for something different.
25:21I'm going to ask you a set of questions and I require a yes or no answer.
25:25Is this doable?
25:26I hope so.
25:27Let's find out.
25:28Let's find out.
25:30Should the EU develop its own nuclear deterrence strategy?
25:34Yes or no?
25:35No.
25:36No.
25:37Can the EU ever be a military power?
25:40Yes or no?
25:41It is.
25:42Yes.
25:43What about military conscription?
25:46Is this a good idea?
25:47Yes or no?
25:48I have my doubts.
25:49Conscription is the only way for small countries.
25:52I don't know about big ones.
25:54Should EU countries spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense?
25:58Well, it depends on what we actually need.
26:01Yes or no?
26:02I would say let's look into it.
26:04Yes, of course.
26:05Not even more.
26:06Is Russia's threat big enough to justify the current surge in spending?
26:11No.
26:12Russia is not justified to do anything at the moment, I think.
26:14Yes, it is.
26:15Will Europe ever be military independent from the United States?
26:18Yes or no?
26:19Yes.
26:20Yes.
26:21Should the EU funds be used to subsidize weapons?
26:24Yes or no?
26:25Yes.
26:26No.
26:27It is not allowed by the European treaties, by the way.
26:30Even though it is on the cards?
26:31Yes.
26:32Should taxpayers accept higher public debt to fund military buildup?
26:36In separate countries, yes.
26:38No.
26:39Should EU defense projects prioritize European companies only, even if it raises costs?
26:43Yes or no?
26:44No.
26:45At the current moment, we need to take whatever is available in the world.
26:48Same question to you?
26:49Yes.
26:50We should prioritize European industries.
26:52Yes.
26:53And what about drones?
26:54Is the future of warfare on drones?
26:56No.
26:57On people.
26:58Well, the future is on peace.
27:01Final question.
27:02Have you agreed with anything that Martin Sheridan has said here?
27:05Yes, that we need to be smarter in spending on defense.
27:08What about you?
27:10Well, no.
27:12I have my difficulties to find something that I agree with that you just said.
27:17But at least we have brought you together here on The Ring.
27:19Martin Sheridan and Rio Taras, thank you so much for being on The Ring.
27:22Thank you so much.
27:24And thank you so much for watching.
27:25If you have a comment for us, do reach out.
27:28TheRing at Euronews.com.
27:30That is our email address.
27:31Tell us how you feel about the EU's focus on defense.
27:35Thanks for watching.
27:36And see you soon.
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