The arms
spending of the EU sees a decline amid the financial woes of the bloc.
Many
European Union countries will not be able to afford key parts of their armed
forces, such as air forces, in a few years unless they spend more and cooperate
more closely on defense, the top EU military officer said Sept. 19.
In a
hard-hitting speech, Hakan Syren, a Swedish general who chairs the EU’s
Military Committee, said rising costs, inefficiencies and budget cuts had
brought European defense to a critical point. “The military capabilities of the
EU states are on a steady downward slope,” Syren told a seminar in Brussels
organized by Greek Cyprus, which currently holds the EU presidency. The
downturn is mirrored slightly by trends in the United States, but comes in
stark contrast to Russia and China.prime example,” said Syren.
The
downturn in spending is mirrored slightly by trends in the United States, but
comes in stark contrast to Russia, which increased defense spending by 9.3
percent in 2011, and China, which has increased such expenditures by a whopping
170 percent since 2002 and now has the second-best funded military in the
world.
“Looking
a few years into the future, it is simple mathematics to predict that many
member states will be unable to sustain essential parts of their national
forces, air forces being the prime example,” Syren said.
‘Embarrassingly obvious’
The EU
army chief said he was speaking out now because he was nearing the end of his
three-year term as chairman of the Military Committee. Many EU states have
slashed defense spending as part of deficit-cutting measures forced on them by
the financial crisis, which has plunged the eurozone into turmoil. It was
“embarrassingly obvious” that long-identified European deficiencies such as
intelligence, precision-guided munitions and air-to-air refueling had not yet
been fixed, Reuters quoted Syren as saying. He cited the high cost of military
operations as another pressure on European armed forces.
According
to a study released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
(SIPRI) in April, the countries with the biggest falls have included many that
have faced severe sovereign debt crises, and where austerity measures have been
particularly harsh: Greece (down 26 percent since 2008), Spain (18 percent),
Italy (16 percent) and Ireland (11 percent); but also Belgium (12 percent).
In
contrast, the top three spenders in Western Europe, the United Kingdom, France
and Germany, have so far made only modest cuts in military spending, in each
case less than 5 percent. Germany and the U.K. both plan further cuts in
military spending in the coming years as the U.K. plans to make a 7.5 percent
cut in real terms by 2014-15, while Germany plans cuts of around 4 percent in
cash terms by 2015. U.S. spending decreased slightly in 2011 for first time
since 1998, and spending is likely to fall over the next few years due to
withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan and new budget control measures.
While
China has devoted far more money to its military in real terms, the total
remains in line with its aggressive economic growth, typically equaling 2
percent of gross domestic product each year.
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