At the height of the Cold War, the Netherlands had at its disposal tank divisions, which included up to 1,000 units of armored vehicles, but after its end, the number of tanks in service in the country dropped to almost zero. As The Washington Post notes, this is just one example of the massive disarmament and downsizing of armed forces that have taken place across Europe since the end of the Cold War.
Now Mark Rutte, who took over as prime minister of the Netherlands shortly before the country decommissioned its last tanks, is the favorite to become NATO secretary general. That leaves Brussels wondering whether it can cope with the threats facing the North Atlantic alliance: the Ukraine conflict and Russia's to a military economy, as well as the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House.
Although these threats are completely different, they both push European countries to expand defense production and increase spending on collective defense within NATO. However, experts warn, even this will not help Europe to be ready to face the growing threat coming from the axis of Russia, China , Iran and North Korea , as well as to become an adequate substitute for the USA in the matter of providing aid to Ukraine.
Growing strategic threats and NATO's plans to protect its borders require European countries to increase their military spending even more than they are willing to do now. In the long run, countries will have to sacrifice social welfare programs and environmental goals for this.
"Europe has deep pockets, but they are not deep enough to simultaneously achieve military, social and environmental goals," writes The Washington Post.
