26 June 2025
Europe’s economy is being squeezed by low internal growth, tariff threats from America and a surge of imports from China. The threat of deindustrialisation haunts the continent. But there is a bright spot, even if the reason for it is grisly: the need to rearm to deter an imperialist Russia and help Ukraine fight back. Germany has changed its deficit rules to allow unlimited debt-funded defence spending. Other countries in Europe’s north and east, such as Denmark, Sweden and Poland, have announced boosts to their defence budgets to anything between 3% and 5% of GDP. NATO has a new target of spending 3.5% of GDP on defence. It all means that Europe plans to buy a lot more military kit in the years to come—and wants to make most of it at home.

Europe’s economy is being squeezed by low internal growth, tariff threats from America and a surge of imports from China. The threat of deindustrialisation haunts the continent. But there is a bright spot, even if the reason for it is grisly: the need to rearm to deter an imperialist Russia and help Ukraine fight back. Germany has changed its deficit rules to allow unlimited debt-funded defence spending. Other countries in Europe’s north and east, such as Denmark, Sweden and Poland, have announced boosts to their defence budgets to anything between 3% and 5% of GDP. NATO has a new target of spending 3.5% of GDP on defence. It all means that Europe plans to buy a lot more military kit in the years to come—and wants to make most of it at home.

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