European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a five-part plan to mobilise some 800bn euros ( 842bn) to beef up Europe's defence and provide "immediate" military support to Ukraine after the United States suspended aid. "A new era is upon us," the president said in a letter presenting the plan to 27 European Union (EU) leaders on Tuesday, two days before a summit aimed at cementing joint action on Ukraine and Europe's long-term security begins in Brussels. "Europe faces a clear and present danger on a scale that none of us has seen in our adult lifetime," she wrote. European leaders are under huge pressure to increase defence spending as US President Donald Trump's return to power has delivered a rude wake-up call that they cannot blindly rely on Washington. The joint borrowing would go towards building pan-European capability domains like air and missile defence, artillery systems, missiles and ammunition, drones and anti-drone systems or to address other needs from cyber- to military mobility, the EC said.