{"id":24594,"date":"2016-02-19T01:36:25","date_gmt":"2016-02-19T01:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:05:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:05:53","slug":"russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian Aggression Drives Increase in European Defense Spending"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>ROME \u2014\u00a0Fear of Russian aggression will help drive European defense spending up by 8.3 percent this year, putting a halt to 20 years of declining budgets, a new report by European think tanks <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">has <\/span>claimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over two decades after the end of the Cold War, Vladimir Putin\u2019s expansionist policies in Crimea and Ukraine have pushed European leaders to once again increase their spending on military programs, <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">claims <\/span>according to the report, which was funded by the European Defense Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.iai.it\/sites\/default\/files\/pma_report.pdf\">Read the full\u00a0report here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The decline that has affected European defence budgets for over twenty years, and more acutely after 2008, has halted,&#8221; the new report state<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">s<\/span>d, adding that the rise is most pronounced in central and Eastern Europe, an area covering the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those seven countries will hike spending by 19.9 percent this year, the report said, with Hungary pushing up spending by 22 percent to nearly <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">a <\/span>\u20ac1\u00a0billion<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> euros<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In southeastern Europe, an area covering Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia, the rise will be 9.2 percent, while Western Europe will see a rise of 2.7 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only Italy, Greece and Sweden will keep budgets stable, although Sweden is planning hikes after 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia have all started procurement programs designed to phase out old Soviet Russian equipment and thus reduce dependency on Russia, the report state<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">s<\/span>d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Slovakia, for example, is buying nine UH-60 Black Hawk multirole helicopters to replace Soviet-designed M-17 helicopters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another stimulus behind greater defense spending, notably in France, is concern over terrorist attacks, state<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">s<\/span>d the report, which was compiled by six think tanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The French defen<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">c<\/span>se budget is expected to total \u20ac34 billion <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">euros <\/span>in 2019, up from \u20ac31.4 billion last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The report\u2019s numbers confirm the concern about Russia which has been on the rise for two years and the awareness of a need for strengthened deterrent, but also reveals the awareness in Western Europe of attacks by <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">m<\/span>Muslim fundamentalists and the need to be more offensive,&#8221; said Michele Nones, scientific advis<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">o<\/span>er to the Rome-based IAI think tank, which worked on the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Even if the Russian threat recedes, the trend will remain up due to terrorism, accentuated by the lack of commitment by the US in the Middle East,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The German defense budget is due to rise by 6.2 percent between 2015 and 2019, the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The think tanks point to a growth in defense pacts among European countries, in response to the Russian threat, which are spurring spending, including the Swedish-Finnish Naval Task Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the NATO defense ministers&#8217; meeting in Brussels in June last year, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia signed to cooperate on special forces aerial capabilities, meaning training, modernization, procurement and potentially even integrated multinational units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Various small European countries are strengthening ties with Germany and the US, including a Polish-German deal to develop an amphibious wheeled Armoured Personnel Carrier. In Western Europe, Germany and France are teaming on a new battle tank, while France and UK work on a new UAV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The trend appears to mark a change from the traditional vicious circle in Europe by which few joint programs meant little cross border industrial integration, which in turn did little to encourage joint programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We are now seeing a lot of industrial cooperation, particularly at Tier\u00a02 and 3 in the supply chain,&#8221; said John Louth, a senior research fellow at the RUSI think tank in the UK, which contributed to the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I link that to a rise in joint programs, while even national programs are using a larger number of international suppliers, thanks to the use of rare materials or very high tech,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Apart from the direct reaction to Russian foreign policy or terrorism, European countries are also hiking defense spending in response to appeals from NATO and the US, said Louth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This has to be seen in the context of US pressure and NATO\u2019s calls to spend <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">two <\/span>2\u00a0percent of GDP on defense,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It looks like bilateral relations with the US do count. If you are in Talinin, having a few thousand US troops is important,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Italy stands out as the European country which does not appear to be hiking spending in 2016, a result of tightened budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A 2016 budget document released at the end of 2015 indicated the Ministry of Defense would spend \u20ac12.92 billion <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">euros <\/span>this year, down <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">two <\/span>2 percent on the \u20ac13.19 billion spent last year. Procurement is due to drop\u00a017.7 percent to \u20ac1.95 billion<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> euros<\/span>, although the defense ministry will also receive its usual, hefty back up payment from the Italian industry ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Details of that cash will be made available in a secondary budget document to be released this spring, which will also give a breakdown on spending per program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The current document made it clear however that various programs will not be launched, including the arming of Italy&#8217;s UAVs, permission for which has been granted by the US after a long wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But John Louth predicted Italy would soon be spending more. &#8220;If you look at the crisis in the Mediterranean and the Italy White Paper on defense, it seems they will have no choice but to spend more in the future,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over two decades after the end of the Cold War, Vladimir Putin\u2019s expansionist policies in Crimea and Ukraine have pushed European leaders to once again increase their spending on military programs, claims the report, which was funded by the European <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":52248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":46,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[46,11,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3345],"class_list":["post-24594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","category-global","category-home"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"FN2JF4ZFERGCPK4G4SNLWEPSG4","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Russian Aggression Drives Increase in European Defense Spending - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over two decades after the end of the Cold War, Vladimir Putin\u2019s expansionist policies in Crimea and Ukraine have pushed European leaders to once again increase their spending on military programs, claims the report, which was funded by the European\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Russian Aggression Drives Increase in European Defense Spending\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over two decades after the end of the Cold War, Vladimir Putin\u2019s expansionist policies in Crimea and Ukraine have pushed European leaders to once again increase their spending on military programs, claims the report, which was funded by the European\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-19T01:36:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T22:05:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Kington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Kington\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/2016\\\/02\\\/19\\\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/2016\\\/02\\\/19\\\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Russian Aggression Drives Increase in European Defense Spending\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2016-02-19T01:36:25+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T22:05:53+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/2016\\\/02\\\/19\\\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 871,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/2016\\\/02\\\/19\\\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635914243652169601-14739833818-623b2a5223-ojpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Europe\",\n\t                \"Global\",\n\t                \"Home\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/2016\\\/02\\\/19\\\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/2016\\\/02\\\/19\\\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/2016\\\/02\\\/19\\\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Russian Aggression Drives Increase in European Defense Spending - Defense News\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/2016\\\/02\\\/19\\\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/2016\\\/02\\\/19\\\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635914243652169601-14739833818-623b2a5223-ojpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2016-02-19T01:36:25+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T22:05:53+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Over two decades after the end of the Cold War, Vladimir Putin\u2019s expansionist policies in Crimea and Ukraine have pushed European leaders to once again increase their spending on military programs, claims the report, which was funded by the European\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/2016\\\/02\\\/19\\\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/2016\\\/02\\\/19\\\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/2016\\\/02\\\/19\\\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635914243652169601-14739833818-623b2a5223-ojpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635914243652169601-14739833818-623b2a5223-ojpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/2016\\\/02\\\/19\\\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Europe\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/global\\\/europe\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"europe\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Russian Aggression Drives Increase in European Defense Spending\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Russian Aggression Drives Increase in European Defense Spending - Defense News","description":"Over two decades after the end of the Cold War, Vladimir Putin\u2019s expansionist policies in Crimea and Ukraine have pushed European leaders to once again increase their spending on military programs, claims the report, which was funded by the European","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Russian Aggression Drives Increase in European Defense Spending","og_description":"Over two decades after the end of the Cold War, Vladimir Putin\u2019s expansionist policies in Crimea and Ukraine have pushed European leaders to once again increase their spending on military programs, claims the report, which was funded by the European","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2016-02-19T01:36:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-07T22:05:53+00:00","author":"Tom Kington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tom Kington","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Russian Aggression Drives Increase in European Defense Spending","datePublished":"2016-02-19T01:36:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T22:05:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/"},"wordCount":871,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635914243652169601-14739833818-623b2a5223-ojpg.jpg","articleSection":["Europe","Global","Home"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/","name":"Russian Aggression Drives Increase in European Defense Spending - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635914243652169601-14739833818-623b2a5223-ojpg.jpg","datePublished":"2016-02-19T01:36:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T22:05:53+00:00","description":"Over two decades after the end of the Cold War, Vladimir Putin\u2019s expansionist policies in Crimea and Ukraine have pushed European leaders to once again increase their spending on military programs, claims the report, which was funded by the European","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635914243652169601-14739833818-623b2a5223-ojpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635914243652169601-14739833818-623b2a5223-ojpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2016\/02\/19\/russian-aggression-drives-increase-in-european-defense-spending\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Europe","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/","ad_zone":"europe"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Russian Aggression Drives Increase in European Defense Spending"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635914243652169601-14739833818-623b2a5223-ojpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24594"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24598,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24594\/revisions\/24598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24594"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=24594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}