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April 28, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 2
Russia, CEE hike military spending as tensions rise
sure from US President Donald Trump for fellow Nato members to fulfil their commitments.
Total spending in Central Europe grew by 2.4% in 2016, although this was a more modest rise than the 2.6% recorded in Western Europe, led by an 11% increase in Italy. Data from individual countries in the region – from the Baltic states in the north to Bulgaria and Romania in the south – showed an upturn in spending in the last one to five years.
“The growth in spending by many countries in Central Europe can be partly attributed to the perception of Russia posing a greater threat,” said Siemon Wezeman, senior researcher with the SIPRI AMEX programme. “This is despite the fact that Russia’s spending in 2016 was only 27% of the combined total of European Nato members.”
Poland plans to increase defence spending to 2.2% of GDP in 2020 and 2.5% by 2030, accord- ing to a draft bill published on April 21. Warsaw is also reportedly eyeing a number of large military purchases, including the US-made Patriot missile system. Romania too plans to buy Patriot missiles, along with other defence purchases. Elsewhere
in the region, the Czech Republic is reportedly planning to buy 12 multi-role helicopters from US aircraft manufacturer Bell Helicopters.
Currently only four Nato member states – Estonia, France, Greece and the US – meet the 2% of GDP spending target, with Turkey and the UK falling very slightly short. Other states, several of which say they are aiming to reach the target within the coming years, have more substantial ground to make up; SIPRI claims total military expenditure by Nato’s European member states would have reached $320bn in 2016, an increase of 26%, had all the states met their targets.
Russia hiked spending by 5.9% in 2016 to $69.2bn, pushing Saudi Arabia, which saw a substantial de- cline in spending, into fourth place. Russia is now behind only the US ($611bn) and China ($215bn).
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced in January that Moscow has no plans to cut defence spending, Tass reported at the time. The Krem- lin is currently developing a modernisation pro- gramme for the defence industry for 2018-2025.
The strong increase in spending within the region was in contrast to an increase in global military expenditure of just 0.4% to $1.686 trillion, equiva- lent to 2.2% of global GDP. This was still the first annual increase since 2011, when spending peaked at $1.699 trillion. Globally, the sharpest increase in spending was seen in Asia and Oceania, where five of the top 15 global spenders in 2016 – China, India, Japan, South Korea and Australia – are located.
“There are many ongoing tensions in the region: in the Korean Peninsula, between North Korea and South Korea; between China and Japan, over claims in the East China Sea; between China and several South East Asian countries, over claims in the South China Sea; between India and Pakistan; and between India and China,” the report said.