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NATO says European allies and Canada sharply increased defence spending in 2025
NATO’s latest annual report says European allies and Canada increased defence spending by 20 per cent in real terms in 2025, with all 32 allies now at or above the alliance’s long-standing 2 per cent benchmark. European allies and Canada…
NATO weighs eastward fuel pipeline expansion as alliance focuses on logistics shortfalls
A senior NATO official has called for the alliance’s Cold War-era fuel pipeline network to be extended further east, underlining growing concern over whether NATO can sustain large-scale operations on its eastern flank in a future conflict with Russia. NATO…
UK, Finland and the Netherlands explore joint defence financing and procurement mechanism
The United Kingdom, Finland and the Netherlands say they are exploring a new mechanism by 2027 to finance joint defence investment and procurement, in an effort to increase munitions availability, strengthen industrial capacity and improve military interoperability. The United Kingdom,…
European defence build-up gathers pace as missile shields and spending targets move centre stage
Europe’s defence debate is no longer centred on whether to spend more, but on how quickly governments can convert political commitments into deployable capability. Across the continent, missile defence, drone interception, ammunition output and cross-border procurement have moved to the…
The End of Europe’s Peace Dividend
For much of the post-Cold War era, Europe indulged the belief that war had become a distant memory. Defence budgets shrank, arsenals aged, and the continent grew comfortable under the long shadow of American protection. That illusion is now dissolving…
Poland seeks greater autonomy in nuclear deterrence as Europe revisits defence integration
Poland has moved the question of nuclear deterrence closer to the centre of the European security debate after Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Warsaw wants “as much autonomy as possible” in this field and is holding talks with France and…
ProtectEU: Inside Brussels’ Strategy to Prevent Terrorism
When the European Commission unveiled its new ProtectEU strategy on 26th February, it marked a notable moment in the bloc’s long and often cautious efforts to confront terrorism and violent extremism. The initiative, presented as a comprehensive agenda to prevent…
Can Europe’s nuclear deterrent remain credible without US certainty?
Europe’s nuclear deterrence debate has sharpened as officials and analysts examine whether Britain and France can continue to provide a credible nuclear backstop in a less certain security environment. The immediate trigger has been a broader reassessment of deterrence in…
US allegations over covert Chinese nuclear testing sharpen scrutiny of Beijing’s modernisation drive
Claims by US officials that China may have conducted a covert nuclear explosive test are likely to intensify an already fraught debate over strategic stability, arms control and the pace of Beijing’s military modernisation. The issue re-entered public discussion this…
Trump Administration Warns EU Over ‘Buy European’ Defence Procurement Plans
Europe’s accelerating rearmament has opened a new line of tension with Washington: not over whether European states should spend more on defence, but over where that money should go. Reports this week indicate that the Trump administration warned the European…