(Bloomberg) -- Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said his country supports the initiative to issue European joint bonds to finance defense spending.
The idea also won backing of his counterparts from France, Italy, Germany and the UK at the meeting that he hosted in Warsaw on Tuesday.
“The project itself is not new, but until now Germany opposed it,” Sikorski told TOK FM radio in an interview on Wednesday. “Yesterday it expressed support.” The funds would be used to strengthen European defense industries and the overall military capacities, he added.
Sikorski said the change of heart comes as countries representing Europe’s largest economies are bracing for the return of Donald Trump as US president in January.
Poland’s foreign minister said the countries are aware of the pressure they are likely to face from the next US administration to increase defense spending. Trump has frequently lambasted NATO members over the issue during his previous term in office.
“If we want to win the support and respect from Washington, we have to do it,” said Sikorski.
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