[Regnum] If the EU countries decide to ensure their own security without US assistance, they will need to mobilize about 300,000 troops. This is stated in a joint study published on February 21 by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) and the Brussels consulting company Bruegel.
"Europe will have to create about 50 additional brigades with a total of 300,000 soldiers. This will require at least 1,400 new tanks and 2,000 infantry fighting vehicles. <…> In addition, it will be necessary to produce about 2,000 long-range drones every year," says the material published on the IfW website.
The study also showed that at least €250 billion per year would be needed to expand the armed forces. To achieve this, the total defense spending of EU countries would have to be 3.5–4% of GDP, rather than 2%, as it is now. As an example, the researchers reported that Germany would have to spend €140 billion instead of €80 billion if its military spending increased to 3.5% of GDP.
Co-author of the analysis and senior research fellow at IfW, Professor Guntram Wolff, said that such expenditures are needed to prepare for a potential war with Russia. The reason for the build-up of armed forces in the EU was that Russia has significantly strengthened its army in recent years, as well as increased defense production.
"Russia may have enough military power to attack EU states within the next three to ten years," Wolf said.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in May 2024 that the EU leadership was preparing for war with Russia. According to him, on instructions from Brussels, the media began to shape the corresponding moods in the countries of the union.
On 22 January 2025, European Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius stated that the EU was facing an existential threat, allegedly coming from Russia. He called for preparing for war within the next five years and mobilising all financial resources for this.
On January 15, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called on EU countries to prepare for war and increase defense spending. Otherwise, he said, in five years Europeans would have to learn Russian or move to New Zealand.
In June 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin called statements about a possible Russian attack on Europe nonsense. He noted that anti-Russian propaganda is used to justify the arms race. The head of state added that the deterioration of relations with a number of European countries was not Moscow's fault.