Renewed European focus on defense spending masks other challenges to maintaining regional security, officials and experts said.
Under pressure from Washington, European NATO members have vowed to boost defense spending to 5% of GDP within the next 10 years, but those outlays do little to address important logistical challenges: The European Union’s transport chief said the EU would have to invest around $20 billion to upgrade its road and rail infrastructure for European armies to move around swiftly, while a defense expert argued in the Financial Times that European countries should focus on improving the coordination of their operations as well as bolstering weapon supply chains.
