China has expressed strong reservations over the appointment of former Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius as the European Union’s first-ever Commissioner for Defence and Space. The European Parliament recently approved Kubilius for the role, and he is set to assume office on December 1.
Kubilius is reportedly a staunch advocate of Taiwan, as he had previously supported Taiwan’s accession to the WHO and was part of the first European Parliament delegation to visit Taiwan in 2021. Andrius Kubilius has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2019, where he sits in the European People’s Party (EPP) group.
Taking a dig at EU for appointment of Kubilius as commissioner, China said that the creation of new post was a reflection of new European Commission’s political ambition in the field of defense integration and participation in the global space governance competition.
According to an article in Global Times, EU’s defense and space commissioner will focus on integrating the fragmentation of the defense industry in the EU member states and improving the competitiveness of the bloc’s defense through the creation of an alliance for the defense industry’s development.
Diplomatic experts concede that Kubilius is likely to adopt a tougher stance on China. He might contribute toward revising the EU’s long-standing categorization of China as ‘partner, competitor, systemic rival’ to include the ‘security threat’ dimension, experts stated.
According to chinaobservers.eu, the space aspect in Kubilius’ portfolio represents a new dimension in the EU’s China policy. Over the past decade, China has strengthened its space and counter-space capabilities to conduct cyberattacks on satellite networks for espionage and data theft purposes, or other forms of informatized warfare. Kubilius may therefore need to focus on building greater resilience against the security threats that China poses in the realm of space.That is what China is deeply concerned about.
China has strong reservations against Lithuania. It had rapidly upped the ante in its economic hit job against Lithuania way back in December 2021. Lithuania had sought to deepen diplomatic ties with Taiwan over recent months. Consequently, Beijing had moved to make an example of Vilnius by flexing its massive trade muscle and stopping imports of Lithuanian goods. Business organizations had then confirmed that China’s embargo was hitting manufactured goods from other EU countries — such as France, Germany and Sweden — that were dependent on Lithuanian supply chains.
When Vilnius had decided to pull all its diplomats out of Beijing, the 27 EU leaders met in Brussels and discussed fall out of the unprecedented spat on European trade.
Lithuania’s showdown with China kicked off in May 2021 when Vilnius had pulled out of the 17 + 1 diplomatic format in which Beijing engages with Central and Eastern European countries. Tensions escalated when Taipei and Vilnius set up diplomatic offices in each other’s country. While this fell short of full diplomatic recognition, China had retaliated which was nothing short of unleashed a welter of retaliation. State media had described Lithuania as “a mouse or even just a flea under the feet of fighting elephants.”
A China-based business executive had admitted that Beijing was putting pressure on EU businesses to stop importing Lithuanian products. Reports suggested that two German companies in the auto industry had parts stopped at Chinese ports in those days because they were manufactured in Lithuania. Some of these components could take years to be replaced with trusted alternative suppliers.
Experts said that Kubilius is likely to continue supporting efforts to counter Chinese influence including in CEE when he formally assumes office as Commissioner of defence and space. Kubilius is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which Beijing has vehemently opposed.
According to a latest post on atlanticcouncil.org, two-time Lithuanian prime minister presented his priorities, which, broadly speaking, revolve around securing financing for EU defense initiatives and improving the fractured European defense industry. He discussed “European projects of common interest,” such as air defense and counter-drone investments, and he pledged to immediately begin implementing the European Defence Industry Program. On space, Kubilius highlighted the need to improve EU launch facilities and the desire to ramp up public-private space cooperation, like NASA and SpaceX have done.
At the same time, Kubilius’s plans for integrated NATO-EU capability lists and joint stockpiles of munitions lacked clarity. He has the unenviable task of creating a “European Defence Union,” as von der Leyen assigned him in his mission letter, reported the website.
However, all eyes will be on Lithuania’s former PM Andrius Kubilius and his performance as EU’s first defense and space commissioner. He has major responsibilities. His biggest tasks will include rationalization of Europe’s fractured defense industry, funneling lots more money into the sector, boosting production and ensuring that the bloc keeps supporting Ukraine with arms and ammunition.
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