Europe Curbing Defense Cuts to Counter ‘More Assertive Russia,’ NATO Says Jens Stoltenberg also says U.S. has requested NATO surveillance planes to help fight Islamic StateBy Julian E. Barnes

Posted By on January 29th, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/articles/europe-curbing-defence-cuts-to-counter-more-assertive-russia-says-nato-1453985478

BRUSSELS—Russia’s will to “change borders in the east” has helped reduce defense-spending cuts among the European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, according to the group’s general secretary.

Jens Stoltenberg made the comments Thursday, while noting that the U.S. had requested the assistance of NATO planes in the battle against Islamic State.

NATO published its annual report Thursday, which showed that military spending and cuts to the size of European armed forces have begun to plateau. NATO heralded the trend as a sign that years of austerity-driven spending reductions have slowed or ended.

Mr. Stoltenberg said the alliance will step up its military exercises this year, noting that Russian operations near the alliance’s borders have increased dramatically. “We see a more assertive Russia to the east…that has shown a will to change borders in Europe,” he said.

Mr. Stoltenberg also said the U.S. had requested NATO deploy some of its Awacs surveillance planes to help fight Islamic State. Awacs are used to monitor airspace—a mission that has become more important with Russia’s intervention in Syria.

Regarding armed forces spending, Mr. Stoltenberg said 2015 saw a “dramatic slowing of cuts,” adding “we have started to move in the right direction. The cuts have now practically stopped among European allies and Canada.”

Military spending last year by the European members of NATO fell about 0.4%, the smallest reduction since at least 2008, NATO officials said.

U.S. expenditure remains an exception, continuing to fall as a result of spending caps, according to the NATO calculations. However, American military spending still dwarfs the contributions of all other allies combined.

“There have been some reductions in U.S. spending, but they remain above 3%” in GDP, Mr. Stoltenberg said.

Despite the increased spending, the alliance still faces major challenges.

NATO has made only limited strides in coordinating expenditure between countries, to address shortages and capability gaps that have been laid bare since the 2011 intervention in Libya.

Mr. Stoltenberg said there are critical capabilities the alliance lacks and needs to reinforce with additional investments, including surveillance aircraft, refueling planes as well as modern armored vehicles.

In large measure because of these shortfalls, Europe remains highly dependent on the U.S. for its security.

The report notes that since the Cold War, the U.S. has accounted for about 50% of the gross domestic product of the alliance and 72% of the military spending. In 2015, according to NATO figures, U.S. military spending was more than twice what its European allies spent combined—though analysts point out that the U.S. spends a significant proportion of that budget outside Europe.

For years, U.S. officials have been prodding the alliance to take more of a share of military spending, a message that fell on deaf ears as Europe pursued spending cuts as part of austerity measures.

Still, U.S. officials said several allies, responding to fear of a newly aggressive Russian military, have begun to reverse years of cuts.

NATO has pushed member countries to spend at least 2% of its GDP on military spending. In Europe currently only Britain, Poland, Estonia and Greece meet that target. Overall, NATO’s European members spend 1.43% of their GDP on defense. Last year the U.S. spent 3.62% of its GDP on defense, down from 3.79% in 2014.

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