Europe is going on a huge military spending spree

From The Economist

Europe is going on a huge military spending spree

But with America now an unreliable ally, will it be enough to counter Russia?

European governments face an urgent defence crunch, caught between Russian aggression and American unreliability. But the evidence is mounting that they are starting at least to take the threat seriously. In May the European Commission launched safe (Security Action for Europe), a €150bn ($174bn) fund that gives eu members low-interest loans for defence investments. It provides money to tackle some of Europe’s most glaring capability gaps and to boost industrial capacity through common procurement. Sceptics doubted there would be many takers. But when the deadline passed on November 30th, 19 countries had applied and the fund was fully subscribed. Poland alone is asking for €43.7bn.

Safe is one of the two main pillars of the eu’s plan to help boost defence spending, initially christened “ReArm Europe” but since renamed “Readiness 2030”. The other is the National Escape Clause (nec), which allows countries to increase defence spending by up to 1.5% of gdp over the next four years without falling foul of eu deficit rules. Already 16 countries have signed up, including Germany. The nec could unlock a further €650bn of military spending.