Germany’s foreign minister responded to a U.S. call for NATO nations to spend 2% of GDP on defense by calling that “unrealistic.”
In 1988 Germany spent 2.5%; today it spends 1.2%. Poland spends 5%. France spends 2.1%. Greece, 2.6%. Turkey, 2.1%. Ukraine, 4%. And the U.S. spends 3.3% of GDP on defense.
Exactly why is it unrealistic to expect prosperous Europe to spend 2% on defense?