The European Union today unveiled their “European Defense Action Plan,” which aims at a major military spending increase alliance-wide, with some $5.8 billion a year being set aside to acquire more weaponry, including attack helicopters and drones.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker argues that the spending is needed to ensure that Europe’s military industrial base remains “competitive” enough to give them strategic autonomy. Alliance-wide, the EU member nations spend over $210 billion on their military every year.
A lot of the effort seems focused not on building or buying equipment anyone actually wants, but rather in ensuring that EU-based companies have the capability of doing so, and funding research into more future weapons that they will also buy, but not actually want.
Arms makers seem on board with this, for obvious reasons, but it isn’t clear exactly how the unwanted military equipment is going to be distributed, as officials are assuring that this won’t be owned in common by the EU itself, but that everything will be owned by individual states. Since a lot of this gear is costly to maintain, it’s potentially a major liability for whoever ends up with it.
The plan is also expected to fuel some opposition from the Baltic nations, which are said to prefer efforts to increase NATO military spending on assets that could be used in a huge war with Russia, as opposed to focusing on the industrial base that’s mostly in Western Europe in the first place.
Some analysts are presenting this as a direct response to President-elect Donald Trump’s calls for Europe to be responsible for more of its own defense, though in practice this program appears to be spending for the sake of spending, not a move toward any shift in military assets on the continent.
As long as this means the US spending less, go for it EU, knock yourself out. Of course that’s hardly what the people of the European countries want but that’s never been as issue for tyrannical Eurocrooks like Jean-Claude Junk.
“As long as this means the US spending less…”
It doesn’t mean the US will spend less. If you think Donald is going to cut military spending, on NATO or elsewhere, buckle up. He’s walked back on so much already there’s no reason to believe he won’t on that also. Besides, he’s reportedly trying to load up his administration with tired old warmonger hawks. You don’t seriously think he’ll not listen to them if they’re advising him.
I guess will find out. The nature of things of course is that more money is always spent over time, not less.
The sh!theads in the EU military are so busy obeying US orders to provoke Russia that they can’t stop junkets overloaded with immigrants from entering EU nations.
$5.8 billion for the whole EU is a joke. Not saying they should spend massively on an insane anti-Russia armaments program, but let’s get real. This is a token program.
And furthermore $$$ is secondary at this point. The W European countries have so pussified their male populations that I doubt they have any real warfighting capabilities on land vs non-third world pushover foes. Germany has no more Prussian Grenadiers to call upon.
There were some battles (Kunersdorf!) at the time of Frederick the Great when Russian yokels beat the sh out of Fred’s Grenadiers.
“EU member nations spend over $210 billion on their military every year.”
And, given that those in the EZ can’t create their own money, that is a fair chunk going to guns and not butter. Especially when unemployment is through the roof across the EU and most of the South is experiencing depression era levels of privation.
May this become a “reverse Reagan” with the EU going broke an disintegrating.