EU states carry out the largest rearmament since 1950 - Borrell
After the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the EU countries are carrying out the largest rearmament of their armed forces since 1950, and continue the process of increasing defense budgets.
This was stated by EU High Representative Josep Borrell, Censor.NET reports with reference to Ukrinform.
"Today, European governments are carrying out the largest rearmament in Europe since 1950. We are at a point where everybody agrees that we need to increase our military capability. Because we live in a situation where no one doubts that Europe is in danger," Borrell said.
He noted that Russian aggression against Ukraine had revealed weaknesses in the European security and defense system. The mobilization of the European Union and its member states, according to Borrell, was "impressive", but it was this war that exposed the lack of defense investment in the previous decades.
"Until 2014, the Europeans were going through a constant process of disarmament, when we gradually reduced investment in defense. Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014 was the first wake-up call, and since then we have continued to increase our defense spending. Last year, 27 member states spent $240 billion, up $70 billion from 2014. Last year, we increased our defense spending by 6 percent compared to 2021. This demonstrates that this is a steady trend. A lot of money is needed to compensate for the underfunding of previous years," Borrell said.
According to him, in terms of the share of defense spending in GDP (gross domestic product), EU countries still lag behind the NATO minimum of 2 percent, and now have this average of 1.5 percent. This means that to meet the target of 2 percent of GDP, EU countries need to add about €75 billion each year, and this could be a challenge for European finance ministers.
"For comparison. The U.S. spends about 3.5 percent of GDP on defense. Russia in the war increased spending from 3.6 percent of GDP to 4.3 percent last year. In 2024, they will increase defense spending by 70 percent (compared to 2023 - ed.). This is definitely the economics of war. They are doing this because they have lost a huge amount of military capabilities. But even in these conditions, 70 percent is a lot," Borrell said.
