‘US strikes on Iran made Europe and NATO safer': Latvian defense minister
This year's NATO summit is centered on ramping up military spending and Latvia is leading by example. Situated on NATO's eastern flank, Latvia has become the first alliance member to upgrade its forward presence into the NATO Multinational Brigade Latvia.
From the summit, Latvia's Defense Minister Andris Spruds joins Al Arabiya English and Counterpoints to discuss the frontline challenges and strategic priorities shaping NATO's future.
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Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Germany and the balance of power in Europe
The 2025 NATO Summit, which took place in The Hague last week, brought together representatives of all 32 member nations of the alliance. Top of the agenda was an agreement to increase national security expenditure, with a target for each country to spend 5 percent of gross domestic product on defense by 2035. The shift comes as Germany embarks on its biggest military rearmament since the Second World War, signaling its intent to assume a more assertive role within NATO and across Europe. Given that a highly militarized Germany twice brought the world to war, this latest iteration has drawn great interest. It also follows repeated criticism from US President Donald Trump, who has long accused European allies of relying too heavily for their security on Washington, which he argues bears a disproportionate share of NATO's military burden. In 2024, the US spent $935 billion on defense, more than double the combined total of all other NATO members. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, this imbalance became clear, as Europe was exposed as being critically reliant on the US for its security. No country reflects the shift toward increased military investment more clearly than Germany. Under the leadership of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, it has embraced rearmament with a boldness unseen since the end of the Second World War. For much of the second half of the 20th century, Germany was characterized by its rejection of military might as an instrument of state power. Under the auspices of the European project, a reunified Germany sought to establish its role through multilateral diplomacy, economic stability and the rule of law. Its military, the Bundeswehr, remained fragmented and poorly equipped, with a defense budget that rarely exceeded 1.1 percent of GDP. Strict controls were placed on arms exports and strategic leadership was largely left to the country's NATO allies, led by the US. This was the established trend in postwar Germany. Even the faintest hint of rearmament was met with public resistance, shaped by memories of the nation's painful past. The Bundeswehr, established in 1955, was intentionally built with no projection of offensive power. For decades, as Germany became Europe's economic powerhouse, its security policies remained largely reactive and rooted within NATO's strategic architecture. However, those days now seem to be firmly behind it, with Berlin emerging as a prominent defense hub for Europe. This year, the Merz government passed a defense budget worth 2.4 percent of GDP, the highest level of military expenditure in Germany's postwar history, and announced long-term aspirations to raise it to 5 percent. At the transatlantic level, Germany's evolving strategy reflects growing uncertainty about Washington's role in NATO. Zaid M. Belbagi The goal is to ramp up annual defense spending from €95 billion ($111 billion) in 2025 to €162 billion by 2029. To enable this shift, Berlin has introduced legal changes allowing it to bypass its constitutional debt brake, a departure from a long-standing tradition of fiscal restraint. The transformation goes beyond budgets and legislation. Merz has pledged to build the Bundeswehr into 'the strongest conventional army in Europe' by 2031. The plan includes an expansion of its active forces from 182,000 troops to 203,000 by 2031, with a long-term target of 240,000. The military's role is expanding beyond Germany's borders as well. In May, Berlin announced that an armored brigade would be permanently stationed in Lithuania, the first long-term deployment of a German force beyond its own borders since the Second World War. This shift aims to support NATO's eastern flank amid growing concerns about Russian aggression. Modernization is proceeding at a rapid pace. Under a new rearmament directive issued by Chief of Defense Gen. Carsten Breuer, the Bundeswehr is acquiring advanced weapons and equipment, including air defense and precision-strike capabilities, space assets, advanced electronic warfare tools and munitions reserves. The procurement program includes Patriot missile systems, Eurofighter and F-35 fighter jets, Leopard 2 tanks, PzH 2000 howitzers and sophisticated military drones. This shift by Germany marks a pivotal moment for NATO and for Europe: the emergence of a post-American mindset in defense policy, with Berlin increasingly taking on responsibilities long championed by the US. At the transatlantic level, Germany's evolving strategy also reflects growing uncertainty about Washington's role in NATO, especially amid the decisions of Trump and his administration during his second term. The result is a more assertive and autonomous German military posture, one that is reshaping the security architecture of Europe. For the Middle East and North Africa, the rearmament of Germany and the revitalization of its defense industry present significant opportunities for deeper cooperation. The country has long been a key supplier of advanced machinery, equipment, motor vehicles and military aircraft components across the region. Amid the ongoing tensions between Iran, Israel and the US, Middle Eastern nations might increasingly look to Berlin as a vital partner, one whose expanding defense capabilities and industrial expertise could help shape their own security and military strategies for years to come.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
Kremlin says Estonia's readiness to host nuclear-capable NATO jets threatens Russia
Pevkur said Estonia was ready to host nuclear-capable jets if necessaryPeskov said such a move would be an obvious threat to RussiaMOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Friday that Estonia's stated readiness to host NATO allies' U.S.-made F-35A stealth jets, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, posed a direct threat to Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur told the Postimees news outlet on Thursday that Estonia - which borders Russia and is a rotating base for NATO jets tasked with protecting Baltic airspace - was ready to host nuclear-capable jets if necessary."If some of them, regardless of their country of origin, have a dual-use capability to carry nuclear weapons it doesn't affect our position on hosting F-35s in any way," the outlet cited him as saying."Of course we are ready to host our allies."Pevkur was speaking after Britain, a NATO member, announced it would buy at least 12 F-35A jets capable of carrying nuclear warheads and that they would join NATO's airborne nuclear about Pevkur's comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such a move would be an obvious threat to Russia."Of course it would be an immediate danger," Peskov told a journalist from Russia's Life news outlet. He said the statement was one of many "absurd thoughts" voiced by politicians in the Baltic region, which comprises Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania."We have practically no relations with the Baltic republics because it is very difficult to make them worse," he said.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Arab News
After NATO deal, how far will EU go for trade peace with Trump?
BRUSSELS, Belgium: After satisfying Donald Trump's calls for Europe to ramp up defense spending in NATO, EU leaders in Brussels turned Thursday to the next big challenge ahead: how to seal a trade deal with the US leader. Time is running out. The European Union has until July 9 to reach a deal or see swingeing tariffs kick in on a majority of goods, unleashing economic pain. The European Commission, in charge of EU trade policy, has been in talks with Washington for weeks, and the leaders of Europe's two biggest economies France and Germany on Thursday urged Brussels to move fast in search of a deal. 'France is in favor of reaching a quick agreement, we don't want it to drag on forever,' President Emmanuel Macron told reporters after summit talks involving the bloc's 27 leaders and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. While Macron said European nations 'do not want a deal at any cost,' Germany's chancellor has signalled he wants to close a deal fast — even if it means an unbalanced outcome with some level of US tariffs on EU goods. 'It's better to act quickly and simply than slowly and in a highly complicated way,' Friedrich Merz told a press conference after the talks. The EU has put a zero-percent tariff proposal on the table — but it's widely seen as a non-starter in talks with Washington. Von der Leyen said the commission had just received the latest US counterproposal, adding: 'We are assessing it as we write, speak right now.' 'Swiss cheese' option According to several diplomats, the goal at this point is rather to let Trump claim victory without agreeing a deal that would significantly hurt Europe. One diplomat suggested leaders would be happy with a 'Swiss cheese' agreement — with a general US levy on European imports, but enough loopholes to shield key sectors such as steel, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and aeronautics. This would be less painful than the status quo with European companies currently facing 25-percent tariffs on steel, aluminum and auto goods exported to the United States, and 10 percent on a majority of EU products. Merz had earlier this week taken aim at the EU's approach to talks as overly complicated, urging 'rapid, joint decisions for four or five major industries now.' The issue was the focus of Thursday's summit dinner, at which von der Leyen was able to test leaders' red lines in negotiations. If no agreement is reached, the default tariff on EU imports is expected to double to 20 percent or even higher — Trump having at one point threatened 50 percent. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday suggested the administration could extend the July deadline but said 'that's a decision for the president to make.' Avoiding escalation Unlike Canada or China, which hit back swiftly at Trump's tariff hikes, the EU has consistently sought to negotiate with the US leader — threatening retaliation only if no agreement is reached. 'We will not allow ourselves to be provoked, we will remain calm,' said Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, urging the EU to avert an all-out trade war with Washington. Talks between EU and US negotiators have intensified in recent weeks. Trump divides the Europeans. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are both vocally supportive of Trump — while others are more wary. 'The problem is that on behalf of the United States, we have a heavyweight dealmaker — on our side, European Union, have light capacity and capability leaders to negotiate,' said Orban. Pro-trade countries in Europe's north are especially keen to avoid an escalation. The EU has threatened to slap tariffs on US goods worth around 100 billion euros, including cars and planes, if talks fail to yield an agreement — but has not made any mention of those threats since May. The United States is also using the negotiations to try to extract concessions on EU rules — particularly digital competition, content and AI regulations, which Washington claims unfairly target American champions such as Apple, Google, and Meta. Europeans are ready to discuss common transatlantic standards, but the EU's digital rules are a red line for Brussels.
