Kremlin says proposed 'European Defence Union' is sign of EU's militarisation

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Thursday that pledges by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to create "a true European Defence Union" if she won a second term spoke to the mood in Europe towards militarisation and confrontation.

In a document setting out her programme ahead of a European Parliament vote on granting her another term, Von der Leyen said the effort would include flagship projects on air and cyber defence over the next five years.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the document reflected von der Leyen's "changing priorities" and said her proposals gave a "military colouring" to the European Union.

Peskov told reporters that her proposal "confirms the general attitude of European states to militarisation, escalation of tension, confrontation and reliance on confrontational methods in their foreign policy."

"Everything is quite obvious here," he said.

Peskov said that while Russia did not pose a threat to the EU, actions by member states regarding Ukraine "have excluded any possibility of dialogue and consideration of Russia's concerns."

"These are the realities in which we have to live, and this forces us to configure our foreign policy approaches accordingly," Peskov said.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

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