Russia threat prompts European military spending hike

  • 2017-04-25
  • BNS/TBT Staff

BRUSSELS - A perceived threat from Russia has triggered a Central European dash towards military spending, EUobserver reports.

Figures presented on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) show military expenditures in Central Europe grew by 2.4 percent in 2016.

Latvia registered the biggest increase in military spending with a 44 percent jump from 2015 to 2016, followed by Lithuania at 35 percent.

Latvia's defense budget in 2016 was EUR 267.86 million, while Lithuania had a defense budget of EUR 575 million.

SIPRI researcher Siemon Wezeman in a statement said that the growth spurt can be attributed, in part, to the perception of Russia posing a greater threat following the country's annexation of Crimea in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, last year Russia increased its budget by 5.9 percent to approximately EUR 50 billion.

However, Russia's spending in 2016 was only 27 percent of the combined total of European NATO members, SIPRI said.

Spending increases from 2015 to 2016 were also noted in all but three nations in Western Europe - Belgium, and non-NATO countries Ireland and Sweden. Overall military expenditures in this same region rose by 2.6 percent.

Italy registered the biggest defense spending spike in Western Europe, with an 11 percent increase between 2015 and 2016.

The United States has also seen its first significant growth in military spending in 2016 after five years of decline. The country increased spending by 1.7 percent to USD 611 billion (EUR 563 billion) last year.