Europe, according to Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, is “not strong enough” to withstand Russia’s invasion of Ukraine without US assistance.
During a visit to Australia, the upcoming NATO member’s leader stated that Europe’s defenses must be improved.
She said, “I must be brutally honest with you: Europe is currently too weak.” Without the United States, we’d be in serious difficulty.
The United States is by far Ukraine’s largest contributor to military support.
Since the beginning of the war in February, the United States has provided $18.6bn (€17.7bn; £15.2bn) in support, according to a House of Commons research briefing from last month.
The European Union is the second greatest donor, after the United Kingdom, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. But the United States contributions outweigh their own.
Ms. Marin asserted that more needs to be done to boost European defenses, given the depletion of European countries’ military supplies as they supply Ukraine.
Friday at the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney, Ms. Marin stated, “The United States has given Ukraine a lot of armaments, financial aid, and humanitarian aid, but Europe is not yet powerful enough.”
She added that Europe must ensure that it is “developing these capacities when it comes to European defense, European defense industry, and ensuring that we can adapt to a variety of circumstances.”
While in office, US President Donald Trump frequently criticized European NATO members for insufficient defense spending.
In 2020, it was estimated that the United States spent a little over 3.7% of its GDP on defense, compared to an average of 1.7% for European NATO countries (and Canada).
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, numerous European Union and NATO members have committed to increasing their defense budgets.
In February, Germany committed an additional $113 billion (£84 billion) for its army, as well as a constitutional commitment to NATO’s 2% of GDP military spending target.
Under then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the United Kingdom said in June that its defense spending would reach 2.5% of GDP by the end of the decade.
All NATO countries are required to contribute 2% “to ensure the alliance’s military readiness,” as stated by NATO. Recent proposals have been made for NATO countries to increase their defense spending to 3 percent of GDP.
In May, Finland, which shares a lengthy border with Russia, submitted an official application to join NATO. Protocols of accession were signed in July, although they have not yet been ratified by the other members.
