[EnderWiggin1970]

"The well-known problem is that neither Britain nor most of its European peers can afford any of these, let alone hope in some miraculous economic growth. They are too weighed down by regulation, taxes, Green costs, expensive energy, deindustrialisation, an aging population and a migrant onslaught to be able to splurge on rearmament at scale. "

[Mariner]

Europe is lost.

They don’t know it yet, but they will be assimilated into some fascist state, internal or external. Somebody “will make the trains run on time”.

There is no hope whatsoever for Europe as we know it.

[ConservativeMind]

If Russia took them over, the place would make more sense.

That’s not encouraging.

[BeauBo]

This is just the public discussion of the budget increases for Defense.

Underlying these numbers, is the deliberate planning process of NATO. The NATO Operational Plan for war with Russia has been updated since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and additional force and infrastructure requirements have been identified to resource that plan. Those requirements have been costed out, and divided among NATO Member States, who are already implementing their acquisition and construction programs.

Unlike budgetary pledges, European nations have a good track record of resourcing their requirements in formal NATO OPLANs.

For example, Germany is currently pushing a $25 Billion purchase through its legislature to procure 1,000 Main Battle Tanks and 2,500 Armored Fighting Vehicles, to equip seven new Armored and Mechanized Brigades (their own Counter-Attack Corps), to meet its additional new force structure requirements of the OPLAN.

That multi-year procurement program is on track for authorization through their budget process by the end of this fiscal year. It is Germany’s biggest single defense procurement since WWII.

This is not just empty talk.