 The European Union should take Ukraine's military needs into account as it determines the future strategy of Europe's defense industry, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on November 30.ina speech at the annual conference of the European Defense Agency. Von der Leyen said Ukraine should be integrated into EU defense programs to help cater to its needs in its war against the Russian invasion, the commission aims to propose its European Defense Industry Program early next year. Senator Leyen said, which would also look at ways to fund the industry. We need to make up for decades of underinvestment and fragmentation. And to overcome this, we need to spend more, spend better, and spend together. Our strategy can only be complete if it also takes into account Ukraine's needs and Ukraine's industrial capacity. The first step to achieve this is to involve Ukraine in the consultation process of the industrial strategy. This should lead to integrating Ukraine in some of our defense programs with the agreement of the European Parliament and the Council when necessary. This will not only help us cater for Ukraine's defense needs. It will, of course, also encourage convergence and joint planning between our militaries and defense industries. Ukraine is a future member of our European Union. So it must get much closer to us and much faster.