Europe Is Not Re-Arming: It’s a Fraud, a Fake and a Lie

Europe is back.

At least, that’s the message Europeans brought to Davos. Finnish President Alexander Stubb suggested Europe “unequivocally” could defend itself without America. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who recently announced the European Union will be a “military powerhouse,” talked up Europe’s independence. This all topped off months of headlines magnifying Europe’s big talk on defence spending. The problem is that none of this is true. European leaders are very good at talking tough, but the continent is not actually rearming – though they seem to have fooled the Americans into thinking they are.

President Donald Trump campaigned on forcing Europe to pay more for defence, and initially, it seemed Europeans had listened. EU leadership came up with a promising proposal: “Rearm Europe,” which they claimed totalled just over €793 billion ($940 billion) in new spending. But the details revealed the actual spending was much lower: Roughly €143 billion ($170 billion), with the rest being merely a suggestion for member states to increase their own budgets. Then, some national leaders suggested “Rearm” was too violent, leading to its current technocratic name, “Readiness 2030”.