The vow through NATO members to spend 3.5% of the gross domestic product of military capabilities and 1.5% of defrastructure in the defense is the courage of Alliance for decades. It discusses a basic fact: Russian war in Ukraine reveals critical defenses of European defenses at a time when US support is not very secure. The challenge today is translating that the ambitious target of the added firepower is easy to meet the threat.
Starting point is to find money to answer new commitments. France, Italy and UK run budget budget defaults. Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez claims that his country has taken conscience to spend only 2.1% of GDP. Over time, the weak growth of Germany and cruel politics could harm its decision, despite the repair of its debt. Discipline, and likely persisted in pressure from the US, it is necessary to ensure that members will not leave their expenditures.
Even more importantly spends money wise. The first task should be discussed with broken European defense base and the duplicate of weapon systems. Region makes more than a dozen main tank tanks in Gira and seeks two FIELD programs in France, Global Combat) and Italy, Japan).
Some progress was made, such as pooling orders of the Nordic States of Nordwe’s Nummo. And 19 EU countries have funded equal drones and electronic warfare projects through the European Defense Agency, a EU body.
European members also need to be known where home production has meaning and where it is not, instead of compulsion to “buy the” buying “buying supply of” buying “European” buying supplies. Europe is still dependent on the US for a variety of critical needs from the air and missile defenses in Cyber and Electronic Warfare, as well as intelligence, monikude, monitoring and reconciliation.
Countries should continue to buy critical abilities from the US and Local License as possible.
Progress must be carefully versatile, not only on spending levels but also the weapons given. Classified investigations of NATO ability should land in an annual public scorecard for taxpayers to review. Governments should also be forced to show that funds taught for infrastructure actually reinforce railroads – all activities of taking political politics.
In the end, European leaders should be honest with themselves and, most importantly, in voters. While defense R & D can waste useful breakthroughs that benefit from the wider economy, military military will often give jobs in health care or green energy. The amount of defense expenditures is and should be defended as insurance against Russian attack, not as an easy recovery for disagged growth.
NATION leaders deserve credit for overcoming parocal concerns and political resistance to agree with new spending targets. However, they need to know that their fight is just beginning.
Bloomberg Opinion / Tribune News Service
