If Public Opinion isn't Stopping Europe...
...what is?
From the end of the May 2023 issue of Defense News is this poll;
Sweden ranks 30 out of 40 European nations in defense spending as a percentage of GDP at 1.28% (2021 figures).
At least Finland is ranked 12th at 2.02%, right above the NATO floor of 2%.
Yes, the Russo-Ukrainian War has focused the mind, but in 2021, 19 NATO nations still were below the 2% threshold.
Come on people, let’s take advantage of tie time being ripe. Get those rookie numbers up - your public supports it.
These governments don't care what their people want and neither does the US Gov.
They have the power and they make the rules and they are not to be trusted.
The European elites, particularly in Western Europe, do not and European public opinion these days matters even less than ours does. I've noted here before that I think NATO needs to go the way of the dodo, but if it is going to stay around, members need to be pushed much harder to reach the threshold defense expenditure. I think the only thing that may make Germany come around is a careful look at Poland's defense expenditures. The national worries of the last century are still around in Europe.