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WORLD NEWS Thursday 23 January 2025

EU needs to end its military dependency on the U.S. and arm itself

‘to survive,’ says Tusk

By LORNE COOK at least until Russia backs
Associated Press down.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The Eu- “It is today that we need to
ropean Union cannot radically increase our de-
rely on the United States fense spending (but) not
to defend it and must in- forever and ever.”
crease military spending In Brussels, EU foreign policy
and security preparedness chief Kaja Kallas warned
to help Ukraine and de- of the dangers that Russia
ter Russia from targeting already poses, laying out
any more of its neighbors, a list of acts of sabotage,
top EU officials warned on cyber-attacks, disinfor-
Wednesday.”Ask not of mation campaigns and
America what it can do electronic GPS jamming
for our security. Ask your- that she accuses Moscow
selves what we can do of underwriting. “Many of
for our own security,” Pol- our national intelligence
ish Prime Minister Donald agencies are giving us
Tusk, whose country holds the information that Russia
the EU presidency, said, could test the EU’s readi-
paraphrasing a quote from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk delivers his speech during the presentation of the programme ness to defend itself in 3 to
U.S. President John F. Ken- of activities of the Polish Presidency, at the European Parliament, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 in 5 years,” she said at a Eu-
nedy’s inaugural address Strasbourg, eastern France. ropean Defense Agency
in 1961. Associated Press gathering. q
In an address to EU law- budgets.
makers, Tusk urged the “We need to believe again
27-nation bloc to “take in our power,” Tusk told the
control” of its own security assembly, in Strasbourg,
and to identify its weak- France. “We are strong,
nesses. “If Europe is to sur- we are equal to the great-
vive, it must be armed,” he est powers in the world. The
said. Anxiety is mounting only thing we have to do is
that U.S. President Donald believe in it.”
Trump might seek to quick- Tusk said that his country is
ly end the war in talks with spending close to 5% of its
Russian President Vladimir gross domestic product on
Putin on terms that are its defense budget, more
unfavorable to Ukraine, or than any NATO ally includ-
once again refuse to de- ing the United States. He
fend European allies who urged his European part-
do not boost their military ners to match that rate

Colombia reactivates arrest

orders for top rebels blamed

for deadly violence in

cocaine turf war

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s government is
reactivating arrest orders for the top leadership of the
nation’s largest rebel group following attacks on civil-
ians as part of a deadly turf war with dissident guerrillas
from another armed group for control of a coca-grow-
ing region bordering Venezuela.
President Gustavo Petro’s leftist government in 2022
suspended warrants against top commanders of the
National Liberation Army, or ELN, as part of an effort to
coax the 60-year-old insurgency into a peace deal.
Among the 31 rebel leaders whose arrest was ordered
Wednesday by the chief prosecutor’s office is Pablo
Beltrán, the lead ELN negotiator in those halting peace
talks, as well as the group’s top military commander,
best known by his alias, Antonio García.
Petro himself a former member of the M-19 guerrilla
group has also suspended the peace talks in response
to the violence.q