The EU is poised to spend up to €800billion (£660billion) on defence thanks to a new major continental funding drive, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has vowed. On Tuesday, Von der Leyen proposed a borrowing drive worth €150billion to lend to EU Governments - which,

The Commission president has presented an ambitious action plan distributed in five points, combining a "significant" increase in national spending, totaling 600 billion, with 150 billion in EU loans.

Europe urgently needs to rearm and member states must be given the fiscal space to carry out a surge in defence spending, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday after a meeting about support for Ukraine.