https://static.euobserver.com/2025/07/eeb128fe-7e58-4e11-bbff-480f74423ef3-9feedbe6-c8d2-4b14-879e-10f736e2a268-a857f832-e6f2-472a-bec9-2102b852dd34-600x400.jpeg" width="600" />
EU budget commissioner Piotr Serafin warned "The alternative to European spending is more national spending" - adding that defence, energy security and research "will have to be financed one way or another.”