PARIS, January 22. /TASS/. NATO’s European member-countries are unable to increase their defense budgets as US President Donald Trump has requested due to political and economic problems in the community, Professor Olivier Schmitt, of the Center for War Studies at the University of Southern Denmark has said.
"Definitely not, given the socio-political context in Europe," he said in an interview with the French magazine Le Point, when asked whether EU countries could increase their defense budget to 5% of their GDP from the previous number of 2%. According to Schmitt, Trump's demand "could serve as a pretext for Washington to exert much stronger coercive pressure" on NATO countries.
As the expert noted, Europe was facing a number of serious problems, including the high cost of energy resources, difficulties with the integration of the single market and aging populations. The political situation in major EU countries "is also not conducive to significant structural change," Schmitt pointed out.
Earlier, Trump said that he intended to press for an increase in military spending from NATO member-countries to 5% of their GDP. He repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with NATO's activities and threatened to withdraw the US from the North Atlantic Alliance if its European partners refused to bear greater financial responsibility for their own security.