Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever said on Thursday that Europe is now realizing the danger of economic dependence. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had warned Europe about this long ago. At the CII event in Delhi, he said – The world is changing rapidly, but Europe is not able to keep pace with this change. He is old. According to Weber, China and America have gone far ahead of Europe. Europe has lagged far behind in innovation and productivity, so it is facing shocks from all sides. Europe is not able to protect itself De Wever said that Europe’s weakness is not limited to the economy alone. European countries are not in a position to take full responsibility for their own security. Europe has to be humiliated all the time. Weaver’s statement has come at a time when pressure is increasing on European countries to take more responsibility for their own security. Trump has long been asking European NATO countries to spend more money on defense. Since 2017 he has pushed for NATO countries to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defence. In 2018 he talked about increasing it to 4%. After this, in 2025, NATO countries set a target to spend 5% of GDP on defense and security by 2035. Weber said- Now we are listening. Europe has come to this understanding a little late, but this change is now happening. He described this situation in Europe as ‘Rude Awakening’ i.e. waking up from bitter reality. Europe’s industry weakened by cheap imports Wever said that Europe has given place to foreign companies in its market on a large scale for a long time. Goods coming at low prices created problems for local companies in Europe and gradually the industry there became weak. He said that the country which benefited the most from this system is a close neighbor of Europe and everyone knows it. De Wever did not name the country, but his statement is being considered as a reference to China. Called India the ‘number-1’ strategic partner. De Wever described India as the most important strategic partner for Europe. He said that Europe should strengthen relations with countries that believe in cooperation and multilateral system and build relations on the basis of mutual respect rather than power. He said, “If India is not in that list then you have missed something very fundamental. India is in that list. Number-1.” De Wever described India’s fast economic growth, large talent pool and technology potential as major strengths for both sides. He said that there is huge potential for cooperation between India and Europe in areas like trade, investment, technology and supply chain. Belgium itself is under budget pressure. De Wever’s concerns have come to light at a time when the Belgian government itself is preparing for major budget cut decisions. The government aims to save about 10 billion euros or 11.7 billion dollars by 2029. The Prime Minister acknowledged that these decisions will impact almost every section of the country. “I am not able to sleep well and think about this a lot,” he said. De Wever said the budget deficit cannot be covered by just imposing more taxes on the rich. At the same time, regarding the reduction in expenditure, he said that generally everyone wants that the effect of savings should fall on someone else and not on him. He said sarcastically, “Everyone thinks that if there is a saving, it should be spent on my neighbor and not on me.”
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बेल्जियम PM बोले- मोदी ने हमें पहले ही चेताया था: तब हमने नहीं सुनी, अमेरिका-चीन के भरोसे रहने का खतरा अब समझ आ रहा
