1: finnish prime minister sanna marin has recently voiced her concern over europe’s lack of strength to stand up to russia’s invasion of ukraine, saying it has had to rely on us support. the us is the largest provider of military assistance to ukraine, having committed $18.6bn in support, while european countries have had to deplete their military stocks to supply ukraine. the european union and uk are the second and third largest donors to ukraine, respectively.
2: in 2020, us defence spending was estimated to be just over 3.7% of its gdp, while the average for nato’s european members and canada was 1.77%. president donald trump has been critical of european countries in nato for not spending enough on defence. since russia’s invasion of ukraine in february, many european union and nato-member countries have pledged to increase their defence spending, with germany committing an extra $113bn for their army and the uk aiming for 2.5% of gdp by the end of the decade.
3: all nato members must commit to 2% of gdp to ensure the alliance’s military readiness, though there have been recent calls for members to increase their defence spending to 3%. finland has formally applied to join nato in may, with accession protocols being signed in july. marin has said europe must make sure it is building its capabilities when it comes to european defence and defence industry, so it can cope in different kinds of situations.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63838350?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
