On July 13 (Paris time), according to Xinhua, 9 European countries and Ukraine officially established the Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition to strengthen Europe's defense capabilities against ballistic missile threats in the context of an increasingly complex regional security environment.
According to a joint statement released by the French Presidential Palace, leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the UK and Ukraine agreed to form an alliance that they affirmed was "completely defensive".
Participating countries believe that the increase in threats from ballistic missiles makes building collective defense capabilities an urgent priority for Europe's security.
The statement emphasized that Europe's defense needs to be based on an integrated missile defense architecture, capable of early detection, deterrence and effective response to future missile attacks.
The formation of the coalition took place within the framework of a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
At the conference, leaders focused on discussing strengthening military support for Ukraine, with the top priority being improving air defense and missile defense capabilities.
Observers believe that the new initiative reflects the trend of European countries increasingly promoting defense cooperation, especially after conflicts in the region showed the increasing role of ballistic missiles and long-range attack systems.
In addition to strengthening missile interception capabilities, the alliance is also expected to promote early warning data sharing, coordination of command and control, and improve interaction between the military forces of member countries.
Currently, the parties have not announced details about the operating mechanism, financial resources as well as the deployment roadmap of the Missile Defense Alliance. However, French officials said that this initiative will play an important role in strengthening Europe's common defense capabilities against increasing security challenges.
