The war in Ukraine and the upcoming US presidential election dominated the NATO summit in Washington this month, but away from the public stage, the alliance’s military planners focused on assessing the enormous cost of overhauling Europe’s creaking defenses.
NATO leaders last year agreed on plans for the biggest overhaul of its defense capabilities in three decades amid growing fears of Russian aggression. Behind the scenes, officials have since been reviewing the minimum defense requirements to carry out those plans, which have been sent to national governments in recent weeks, according to a military planner who spoke on condition of anonymity, according to Reuters.
The minimum requirements detail the shortcomings of NATO armies in key areas, giving a rough indication of the billions of euros it could cost to fix them, the military planner said. NATO aims to turn these requirements into binding targets for governments to ensure Europe’s defense by autumn 2025, when it will hold a regular meeting of defense ministers.
Deficiencies in the defense of Europe
Reuters spoke to 12 European military and civilian officials about the classified plans, who highlighted six areas the 32-nation alliance identified as the most urgent to address.
These include a lack of air defenses and long-range missiles, troop numbers, ammunition, logistical problems and a lack of secure digital communications on the battlefield, conversations with NATO officials show.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters more freely. NATO has not released an estimate of total costs.
Difficulties for NATO
The findings show NATO is struggling to achieve its goals at a time when its unity could be tested by budget constraints among senior European members and disagreements over how tough its stance should be on by Russia.
Crucially, this year’s US presidential election has raised the specter that NATO’s pre-eminent power could be led by a critic of the alliance – former President Donald Trump – who has accused European partners of taking advantage of US military support.
At the July 9-11 summit in Washington, some European policymakers publicly acknowledged that regardless of who wins the November elections, the continent will have to increase its military spending.
“We have to recognize that for America, regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, the priority will increasingly shift to the Indo-Pacific, so European NATO nations must do more of the hard work,” said the British foreign minister. of Defence, John Healey, on the sidelines of the summit.
What expenses are required?
In response to questions from Reuters, a NATO official said alliance leaders had agreed in Washington that in many cases spending of more than 2 percent of GDP would be needed to fix the deficits. It stated that 23 members currently meet or exceed the minimum 2% requirement.
“Regardless of the outcome of the US election, European allies will need to continue to increase their defense capabilities, the readiness of their forces and their ammunition stocks,” the NATO official said.
NATO is on its highest alert since the Cold War, with its most pessimistic officials, including German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, warning that a Russian attack on its borders could happen within five years.
While the Russian economy is already on a war footing, European governments may face resistance if they ask for more money for defense spending from taxpayers reeling from cost-of-living cuts to prepare for war which seems a distant prospect to many, analysts say.
“We can expect to see a political backlash, particularly if politicians try to explain cuts elsewhere by increasing defense budgets,” Eurointelligence, an EU-focused news and analysis service, said in a note on 12 July.
Source: www.descopera.ro
