Eastern NATO countries increase defense spending to $70 billion
Together, the 14 NATO member states in the east have increased their defense spending to unprecedented levels since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This year alone, they amount to $70 billion.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to Bloomberg.
Currently, there is enough military equipment on NATO's eastern flank. However, orders for airplanes, helicopters, tanks, and missile systems have demonstrated how much more needs to be done to meet NATO standards in the most dangerous time since the Cold War.
By replacing the mostly Soviet equipment sent to Ukraine, NATO is trying to rapidly build up the military capabilities of most countries that have been ignored for decades. The neglect was due to the fact that defense fell by the wayside after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the end of the Balkan wars.
The publication writes that the countries of NATO's eastern region are the largest spenders on defense relative to the size of their economies. However, according to interviews with senior military officials, this is only a small part of what is needed. The new equipment will then require personnel with the appropriate skills.
“After doing almost nothing in this field for 20 years, it is essentially a leap from first or second generation machines right to fourth or fifth generation. It's like moving from a computer with 386 processors to the most advanced multi-core networking solutions,” said General Daniel Zmeko, Chief of Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces.
Bloomberg also recalls that Donald Trump, as president of the United States, sharply criticized NATO members for relying too much on America.
In 2021, a year before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, only the United Kingdom reached the alliance's 2% of gross domestic product target among the largest economies in the contingent.
Recently, Mark Rutte, on his first day as NATO's new head, called on Allies to invest more and close capability gaps.
Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 10/10/2024
