International press: Europe faces serious challenges in defense spending

The collapse of the French government is undermining the country’s defense plans as the military budget won’t increase until the political crisis is resolved, Politico writes, citing anonymous officials.

As noted, a €3.3 billion defense spending boost that was part of a seven-year military planning law is off the cards for now. That means a €3.3 billion defense spending boost that was part of a seven-year military planning law is off the cards for now. It also imposes a freeze of sorts on the armed forces ministry, which will not be able to hire new people or launch new programs until a proper 2025 budget is approved by parliament.

“The longer this goes on, the more serious the consequences are going to be, we have a somewhat fragile defense industrial base,” the source noted.

The budget problems could undermine relations with defense contractors, Politico’s source noted. According to the source, there is little expectation of a new budget before February at the earliest. The country’s National Assembly “remains deeply divided and it’s unclear when the political crisis will be resolved.”

The Financial Times (FT), citing sources, has reported that NATO member countries in Europe are negotiating to increase defense spending from 2% to 3% of GDP.

As noted, this move, which has raised concerns in many countries, will put significant pressure on “already strained national budgets.” The new commitments are expected to be officially agreed upon at the NATO summit scheduled to take place in the Netherlands in 2025.

Meanwhile, a senior British military official disclosed to the FT that the United Kingdom will not be able to meet NATO’s requirement of 2.5% of GDP. Italian authorities, for their part, have repeatedly stated that they will only reach the goal of 2% of GDP spending by 2028.