Defense and military issues have been pushed aside in some European countries in recent years. But with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, fears of further attacks are growing. Countries like Germany or Austria may therefore have put aside their pacifist stance. The motto now is more funding for defense.
But a change from the former peace project to a defense community is also noticeable across the EU. At a summit meeting in Versailles, the European heads of state and government pledged to rearmament. At the meeting, they agreed, among other things, to a “substantial increase” in military spending. The European army consists of 27 armed forces, but the defense industry lacks unity.
French President Emmanuel Macron therefore emphasized that he wanted investments in European armaments. A defense community based on arms imports “wouldn’t make much sense,” he said. The relationship with NATO, on the other hand, seems more uniform – which Macron once described as “brain dead”. The final declaration of the Versailles summit shows that the Ukraine war has improved relations between the alliances. It states that Europe’s role in security policy is “complementary to NATO, which remains the cornerstone of collective security for its members.”
“New urgency to invest in our security”
The NATO states themselves spent around 1.06 trillion euros on the military in 2021. The USA made the largest contribution with 729 euros. That was more than twice as much as all the other 29 members put together, as the figures from the latest NATO annual report show.
Compared to Russia and China, NATO’s budget looks huge. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) estimates that Russia’s military budget was €56 billion and China’s spending around €186 billion last year. Nevertheless, experts warn against shutting down NATO funding again for this reason.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the arms ambitions of several members and EU states in view of the Russian invasion. There is a “new sense of urgency to invest in our security” across the Alliance.
Sources: Handelsblatt, Wirtschaftswoche, , “Die Presse”,
Source: Stern
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