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  Title	The European Union proposes deepening defense industry ties with Ukraine
  ID	28368584
  External ID	372983fb3d3d8b422c50a6ed06c24f09
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  Published Date	Nov. 25, 2025, 4:54 a.m.
  Summary	BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's defense chief on Tuesday proposed deeper integration of the blo
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  URL	https://www.bastillepost.com/global/article/5401233-the-european-union-proposes-deepening-defense-industry-ties-with-ukraine
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  Content ID	36020327
  Key	2db3839b-01f3-48f7-8e4f-ee3424ebba8f
  Content	BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's defense chief on Tuesday proposed deeper integration of the bloc's defense industry with Ukraine as a U.S. peace plan remains in flux and Russia's unconventional warfare operations rattle the 27-nation bloc. EU lawmakers are due to hold a vote on a 1.5-billion euro ($1.7 billion) program, with 300 million euros ($345 million) slated for the Ukraine Support Instrument. Ukraine's defense industry 'needs us," EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, without mentioning the ongoing peace negotiations to end the war. "But we need Ukraine's defense innovations even more,' He said that allowing Ukrainian access to the EU's Defence Investment Program 'makes it possible to procure defense equipment in, with and for Ukraine.' EU defense spending is expected to total around 392 billion euros (more than $450 billion) this year, almost double the amount of four years ago, before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The Trump administration has signaled that it's prioritizing U.S. security on its own domestic borders and in Asia. It has told Europeans that they must fend for themselves and Ukraine in the future. Born out of the carnage of the two world wars, the EU started as a trading bloc designed to avert conflict. But Russia's war in Ukraine has spurred a shift in the Brussels-based bloc, heightening its defense and security posture. The European Commission, the EU's executive branch, believes that about 3.4 trillion euros ($4 trillion) will probably be spent on defense over the next decade. To help, it intends to propose boosting the EU's long-term budget for defense and space to 131 billion euros ($153 billion). EU member countries are being urged to buy much of their military equipment within the bloc, working mostly with European suppliers — in some cases with EU help to cut prices and speed up orders. Under the road map, EU nations should only purchase equipment from abroad when costs, performance or supply delays make it preferable. Kubilius said that EU-based defense companies can apply for tax breaks and other financial incentives to fund so-called European defense projects of common interest that 'no member state can ever build alone, but that will protect the whole of Europe,' like Eastern Flank Watch, Drone Defense Initiative or Space Shield. Permitting Ukrainian companies to participate in these projects 'allows us to inject Ukrainian military innovation in the European defense industry,' he said. Last week, the European Commission rolled out a new defense package to allow tanks and troops to deploy more rapidly across Europe as well as the EU Defense Industry Transformation Roadmap, which aims to simplify and unify regulations on the EU's defense industry, and corral investment into domestic production of weapons, vehicles, satellites, shells and bullets. Ukrainian soldiers with the Kraken 1654 unit prepare a Vampire drone before a demonstration for The Associated Press, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's Taliban government on Tuesday accused Pakistan of launching overnight strikes in three eastern provinces, killing 10 civilians, including nine children, in a sign of worsening tensions between the two neighbors. Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesperson for the Afghan government, said on X that Pakistan 'bombed' the home of a civilian in Khost province, killing nine children and a woman. He said additional strikes were carried out in the provinces of Kunar and Paktika, injuring four other people. Mujahid described the attacks as 'atrocities,' and said the strikes were 'a violation of Afghan territory.' Afghanistan, he added in his post on X, 'considers the use of its airspace and territory and defense of its people to be its legitimate right, and at the appropriate time, it will give the necessary response.' Pakistan's military and government did not immediately comment on the allegation, which comes more than a month after cross-border clashes erupted when the Afghan government claimed Pakistani drone strikes hit Kabul. However, the ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey between the two sides in October was still holding Tuesday despite the alleged overnight strikes by Pakistan deep inside Afghanistan. There was no immediate comment from Qatar and Turkey. Iran in recent weeks has also offered to play a role in defusing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Tuesday on X that he met with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad, a day after arriving on a previously scheduled visit. Dar's office was also expected to release a statement about the meeting. In Khost, residents combed through the rubble of the destroyed home, retrieving belongings. "You see the cruelty with your own eyes, that young children, a woman and nine children, were martyred," said Muhammad Iqbal, who said the dead were his cousin's family. Local tribal leader Mer Adam Khan said the attack was carried out by a drone that was flying over the area at around midnight. 'It is not known where it came from and by whom,' he said, adding that the home that was destroyed was that of a local man, whom he identified as Shariat Khan. 'He has not interfered in any government. He lives a poor life here,' the tribal leader said. The latest escalation follows a deadly attack a day earlier in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, where two suicide bombers and a gunman stormed the headquarters of the Federal Constabulary. Three officers were killed and 11 others were wounded in the Monday morning attack. No group has claimed responsibility for the Peshawar attack, but suspicion quickly fell on the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. It is a separate group but closely allied with the Afghan Taliban, and many of its leaders are believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. Kabul in 2022 brokered a brief ceasefire between the TTP and Pakistan. However, the militant group ended the truce after accusing Pakistan of violating it. Pakistan has intensified intelligence-based operations against militants in recent weeks. On Tuesday, the military said security forces killed 22 militants during a raid on what it described as a hideout of 'Indian-backed' fighters in Bannu, a district in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border. In a statement, the army referred to the killed insurgents as Khawarij, a term the government and the military use for militants they allege are supported by Afghanistan and India. Kabul and New Delhi deny providing any support to such groups. The statement said Pakistan 'will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country." Pakistan has repeatedly urged Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to prevent TTP militants from using Afghan territory to launch attacks. Kabul denies the accusation, but relations further deteriorated after Afghanistan blamed Pakistan for the Oct. 9 drone strikes on its capital and threatened retaliation. The clashes that followed killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and militants before the sides agreed to the Oct. 19 ceasefire. Two subsequent rounds of talks in Istanbul failed to resolve the dispute, when Pakistan said Afghanistan had refused to provide a written guarantee that TTP fighters would not operate from Afghan soil. The Afghan government insists it does not allow anyone to use its soil for attacks against any country, including Pakistan. The lingering tensions have stalled bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with all border crossings between the two neighbors remaining shut since last month. It has also affected movement of people, as residents from both sides have been unable to travel to meet with relatives and friends since early October. Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this story. An Afghan boy sits beside the rubble of a home struck in an overnight attack that, according to an Afghan government spokesman, was carried out by Pakistan, in the Gurbaz district of Khost province, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Saifullah Zahir) A man shows children's clothing, allegedly belonging to a victim, as locals search through the rubble at the site of an overnight attack on a home that, according to an Afghan government spokesman, was carried out by Pakistan, in the Gurbaz district of Khost province, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Saifullah Zahir) Locals prepare graves for victims of an overnight attack on a home that, according to an Afghan government spokesman, was carried out by Pakistan, in the Gurbaz district of Khost province, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Saifullah Zahir) Afghan men search through the rubble at the site of an overnight attack on a home that, according to an Afghan government spokesman, was carried out by Pakistan, in the Gurbaz district of Khost province, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Saifullah Zahir) Locals prepare graves for victims of an overnight attack on a home that, according to an Afghan government spokesman, was carried out by Pakistan, in the Gurbaz district of Khost province, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Saifullah Zahir)
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