EU President Costa:"Soft power is no longer enough; we need hard power. Now we need massive investments in defense."

“Geopolitical naivety is over. We are massively increasing our investments in defense to strengthen our security, boost our industries, and create jobs across Europe. This also increases our credibility and influence on the global stage,” wrote the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, in a post on X, echoing what he said on the stage of the Bled Strategic Forum in the Slovenian town of the same name. “Soft power alone is not enough in a world where hard power too often prevails,” Costa continued."We have managed to keep the United States involved in NATO and committed to Eastern Europe's security. At the same time, we are building stronger commercial and industrial partnerships around the world. Not only to increase trade, but to increase predictability and resilience, and reduce strategic dependencies," he concludes.