Twin announcements from Germany and Sweden offer hope that Western Europe may finally be spooked enough to start paying more for defense. First up is Germany, which has announced a plan to increase its military spending significantly, Defense News reports:
The German government under Chancellor Angela Merkel has approved plans to increase defense spending by 6.2 percent over the next five years — an extra €8 billion (US $8.5 billion) by 2019.
In 2016, the defense budget will rise by €1.2 billion to €34.2 billion. The extra funds will allow the defense ministry to push ahead with plans to reform and expand …read more
Source: The American Interest