The United States accounted for almost 70 percent of NATO’s defense spending last year.
Britain’s weapons stockpiles have been so empty that last year the British military considered acquiring rocket launchers from museums to donate to Ukraine.
However, the idea was rejected.
American The Wall Street Journal found out what kind of preparations the European countries would have to fight a war, if one were to break out.
It turned out that in many countries the weapons stockpiles have been depleted and the equipment deteriorated as a result of repeated budget cuts.
For example, Denmark has no heavy artillery, submarines or air defense systems.
The German army would have enough ammunition for two days.
France has less than 90 pieces of heavy artillery. It corresponds to the number of weapons that Russia loses in Ukraine every month.
Countries trust NATO
The WSJ writes that since the 1990s, the governments of European countries have reduced funding for national defense because they relied on the solid military support of the United States and the military alliance NATO.
Last year, the United States accounted for almost 70 percent of NATO’s defense spending.
Recently, the United States has become more and more isolated as it has become aware of the Russian threat hovering over Europe.
Leading researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute Charly Salonius-Pasternak estimated in ‘s morning on Monday that if the political leadership of the United States were to reduce its interest in Europe at the same time as the Russian president Vladimir Putin would see the war of aggression in Ukraine as politically successful, Russia might try to break NATO with a military operation.
The expert urged Finns to prepare for a worse option, i.e. even a military conflict as early as 2025.
The WSJ emphasizes that Russia does not currently pose an immediate military danger to Europe.
In the West, it is thought that Russia’s attention is currently on the battles in Ukraine.
However, if Russia wins the war in Ukraine, it could recover from its losses in 3–4 years.
Russian President Putin has been talking about Russia as a great power for years.
According to experts, in addition to Ukraine, Russia sees the regions of Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries as part of its empire.