Europe is being swept up in a war frenzy unseen since the 1930s. Earlier this month, the European Union unveiled a massive $870-billion rearmament plan, ReArm Europe. Most of the money ($700 billion) will come from member states, which will be allowed (expected, in fact) to overshoot the bloc’s public-spending limit—that is, to take on more debt—up to a maximum of 1.5 percent of GDP for a period of four years, provided they spend the money on defense. The remaining $160 billion will be raised directly by the European Commission on capital markets—though ultimately, this money will also have to be paid back by member states.
“Brussels is now championing a massive spending spree.”
After spending the past two decades pressuring countries to slash welfare and public investment in the name of “fiscal sustainability,” Brussels is now championing a massive spending spree—for war. Evidently artillery, missiles, ammunition and drones are more fiscally sustainable than schools, hospitals, and infrastructure.
Besides, these are “exceptional circumstances,” as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen put it. As Trump pivots away from Europe (and Ukraine), boosting Europe’s military capabilities is essential, we are told, to “deter Russian aggression” while also preparing for the worst-case scenario: all-out war with Russia.
This call to arms is echoed by a warmongering rhetoric that casts Russia as an existential threat to Europe. As Macron recently put it, Russia is an “imperialist” country that “knows no borders”—“an existential threat to us, not just to Ukraine, not just to its neighbors, but to all of Europe.” The notion that Russia is likely to launch a full-scale attack on Europe in the coming years if Putin isn’t stopped in Ukraine is routinely presented by EU and NATO leaders as a self-evident fact. The European Parliament resolution in favor of the ReArm Europe program warns that “if the EU were to fail in its support and Ukraine were forced to surrender, Russia would then turn against other countries, including possibly the EU member States.” We are also told that Russia is already waging a wide array of hybrid attacks against Europe, ranging from cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns to election interference.