EU Needs to Invest 500Bln Euros in Defense in Next 10 Years - EU Commission President

 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the European Union needs to invest 500 billion euros ($535 billion) in defense in the next ten years.

"Europe as a whole needs to step up on defense... We estimate that additional defense investments of around 500 billion euros are needed over the next decade," Von der Leyen told a news conference in Brussels late Thursday.

She added that the EU has fallen far behind China and Russia in increasing defense spending in recent years.

The European Commission president said the funds could come both from additional national contributions by the EU member states and from the bloc's own funds.