Eastern Europe’s $70 Billion Frenzy to Plug Defense Spending Gap
Poland and Estonia are leading the way in NATO, but top military officials in the region say there’s a long way to go after decades of neglect.
A NATO tank engages in an exercise in Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland, in February.
Photographer: Liesa Johannssen/BloombergSlovakia’s president heralded it an “emotional moment” when the first newly purchased F-16 fighter jets landed in his country in July. Poland’s defense minister called an order for Apache helicopters transformational. In Bucharest, billboards proudly proclaim that American F-35s are being “built for Romania.”
There’s no shortage of excitement on NATO’s eastern flank over military hardware nowadays. Put together, 14 member states have ramped up defense spending since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to a level unseen since the fall of communism. It amounts to $70 billion this year alone.