The EU has taken an unprecedented step in the field of defense due to the war in Ukraine

Some EU countries are introducing emergency measures to increase defense spending. They have called the war in Ukraine "exceptional circumstances." This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the Council of Europe press release.

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As stated by the European Commission in its communication of March 19, Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine and its threat to European security constitute such exceptional circumstances and have an impact on public finances, necessitating the need to build up defense capabilities.

In this context, the Council of the EU initiated a coordinated request for the activation of the national release point.

"Currently, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland have decided to request the activation of the point," the statement said.

In other cases, the already planned buildup of defense potential is also underway.

"The above is without prejudice to the specificities of the security and defence policies of some Member States. The clause covers a period of four years and a maximum of 1,5 percent of GDP in flexibility," the press release states.

It is also clarified that the use of flexibility will facilitate the transition to the necessary higher defence spending at national level in Member States, while ensuring debt sustainability.

Defense spending by NATO countries

US President Donald Trump has threatened European countries with withdrawal from the NATO mutual assistance pact if they do not increase defense investments.

Trump has called on NATO allies to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP, although the current norm for NATO countries is 2%.

Among those who do not meet even this quota are Germany, as well as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and several other EU countries.

It should be noted that in early February, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that the future defense spending quota of NATO countries would be significantly more than 2% of GDP. A decision on the size of the contribution will be made in the coming months.

We should add that at the end of January, Lithuania and Estonia promised to reach 5% of defense spending.

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