The Russian Federation has put Europe before choosing: to strengthen defense or protect social costs - WSJ

The probable presidential candidate Donald Trump calls doubt on the future of the United States in NATO. Russian troops continue their offensive in Ukraine, so European leaders have begun to speak about the security of the continent. The war and the dispute with the United States have found gaps in the military potential of Europe, which has to increase defense financing for years. The EU will hold a Defense Defense meeting on March 21. Ahead of painful decisions, journalists write.

Strengthening European security requires an increase in defense costs. At the same time, the EU slows down the economic growth and reach of the target 2% of NATO defense costs will require the abolition of increasing social programs. "You have to change the social contract," said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who warned that Russia will eventually attack NATO countries if it is not defeated in Ukraine.

According to the analysis of the Analytical Center of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in 2019, Europe will take at least 20 years to create European forces capable of stopping Russian invasion of Lithuania and neighboring parts of Poland without the United States. It can cost $ 420 billion. Ukraine has destroyed a huge number of Russian equipment, but European officials say that Moscow can restore the army for several years after the war.

NATO, meanwhile, exhausted their stocks to give weapons to Ukraine. "This comes down to political will in combination with the ability to explain to the public what we really have to do. For years, Europe has reduced the cost of the army. If in the 1970s, Belgium could send 50 thousand fighters to Germany, then after the invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, they were able to send 300 fighters to Romania. Therefore, most European governments will be painful.