Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means Europe will spend big on Defense
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe is gearing up – The Russian invasion of Ukraine is causing waves through Europe’s security environment galvanizing central and eastern European countries into bolstering their defense, which some had neglected for years.
The most notable case is Germany. The European economic powerhouse and NATO member has for decades been under-investing in its defense. German defense spending reached a low of 1.06% of GDP in 2005. Following persistent U.S. calls, Germany’s military expenditure gradually began to rise. However, by 2020 it had only reached 1.4%.
The condition of the German military was so deplorable that on February 24, the day of Russia’s invasion, chief of staff of the German army Lt. Gen. Alfons Mais lamented that the army “is standing there more or less empty-handed.”
The options that the army can offer to the German government in support of NATO are “extremely limited” Mais added. The government’s response was swift.
On February 27, German Chancellor Olaf Sholz announced the creation of a special 100-billion-euros fund to additionally support the German military in 2022. This will put it over NATO’s 2% spending target. In contrast, in 2021, Germany had spent 47 billion euros on its defense.
Sholz said that henceforth Germany will be investing more than 2% on its defense, an expenditure target set by NATO.
Farther eastward, Finland is also preparing after Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.