2024-02-16 00:12:41
Issuing common debt bonds of the European Union could help finance higher defense costs of the bloc’s member countries, Belgian Prime Minister Alexandre de Croix said, quoted by Reuters. The Prime Minister added that, nevertheless, EU countries must make difficult political choices in order to be able to deal with the common debt.
Many European governments have signaled the ability to increase military spending in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine and amid doubts about America’s commitment to Europe’s security within NATO following remarks by former US President Donald Trump.
During a campaign rally in Conway, South Carolina, on February 10, the contender for the Republican presidential nomination for the November election recalled how he told the president of a NATO member country that if he did not allocate additional funds to national defense, he ” would encourage Russia to do whatever it wants.”
With many member states under pressure over what budget spending they can afford, leaders such as Estonian Prime Minister Kaia Kalas, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Council President Charles Michel have promoted the idea of aid of increasing defense spending through a special package of EU general bonds.
“I think it’s a sensible idea, something that will help us speed things up,” De Cro told Reuters in an interview.
“But at some stage we’re going to have to be able to last, and we can’t last if we’re borrowing forever,” said De Cro, who is among the leaders who have announced their participation at the Munich Security Conference, which starts tomorrow.
At the same time, Reuters points out how supporters of this idea recall that several years ago EU countries agreed to issue common EU debt bonds in order to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. “It won’t be easy, but it has already been done once, so there is a precedent,” a European diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity, BTA reported.
Last month, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton floated the idea of creating a €100 billion European Defense Fund, although he indicated that this would have to be agreed by the new European Commission, which will start work at the end of the year.
Since Russia first invaded Ukraine and annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, military spending by EU member states has been on an upward trend, according to Reuters.
NATO announced yesterday that it expects European defense spending by the alliance’s member nations to rise by $33 billion this year to a total of $380 billion. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this year the alliance expects 18 of its 31 member states to meet the military spending target of 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP).
Belgium will certainly not be among them, notes Reuters. Last year, the country should have allocated 1.13 percent of GDP to defense, according to NATO’s 2023 estimate. Belgium is projected to reach NATO’s target of two percent in 2035.
Liberal De Croix, who heads a multi-party government, said one of the main points of his future election campaign would be to “drastically” shorten that period.