Europe faces an “urgent challenge” to replace US weaponry, as Washington weighs scaling back its military presence on the continent, the EU’s defense commissioner said Tuesday.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth last week announced a six-month review of the US force posture in Europe after anger with NATO allies over their response to the Iran war.

EU defense commissioner Andrius Kubilius said the move could see Washington shift key assets elsewhere in the world.

“We have to be prepared. This could not be at some distant time in the future. It could be soon,” he told a defense conference in Brussels. “We are now faced with an urgent challenge to replace American strategic enablers and heavy weaponry.”

Kubilius warned that failing to plug the gaps in areas such as space-based intelligence would be an “open invitation” for Russian President Vladimir Putin to test Europe. Putin could seek to lash out at the continent as he is on the back foot in Ukraine, Kubilius said.

The European Union has pressed to ramp up the continent’s defense spending as questions swirl over the reliability of US support under President Donald Trump.

Kubilius warned that filling the “strategic gaps” could cost around 500 billion euros ($570 billion), citing an estimation from Germany’s Kiel Institute.

But the commissioner, who oversees efforts to bolster the EU’s defense industry, said the issue was not just the eye-watering sums of money needed. “We learnt how to raise additional funds,” Kubilius said.

“We still need to learn how to spend them in an effective way in order to outproduce, out-innovate, outgun Russia.”

Kubilius reiterated calls for the EU to better integrate Ukraine’s defense industry, focus on producing at larger scale, and increase cooperation between member states.

“At a time when America is asking us to step up, because in some areas, they might step aside — now is the time to create a more integrated European defense market,” he said.

He said the European Commission would lay out options on creating a more integrated EU defense market next week. (AFP)