Estonian defence minister says Europe facing rising defence production costs

Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur has said European countries are facing rising prices for defence products.

Source: Bloomberg, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Pevkur noted that in some cases prices for defence products have increased by more than 50% over the past two years amid growing military spending by NATO member states.

Quote: "Prices are going up. I have discussions with my national armament director constantly. What we see is that when we bought something two years ago, and when we now want to increase these quantities what we bought – the same thing – then the price has gone up like 50%, 60% for some item."

Details: The sharp rise in the cost of weapons and other military equipment is complicating NATO's defence spending plans as Europe comes under pressure to rapidly rearm.

Europe is also being forced to shoulder the bulk of costs for supplying Ukraine amid the Russian invasion, as the United States shifts its attention elsewhere.

Pevkur described the situation as a "chicken-and-egg problem", where countries face shortages of supply on the market, while Europe's defence industry is unwilling to invest more until governments sign contracts.

Europe does not have time to wait until 2030 to improve combat readiness because "the best time to poke NATO" by Russia could come as early as this year or next, the minister warned.

He added that defence spending will need to remain at a high level for a long period.

Background:

• The Financial Times previously reported that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte intends to urge European defence companies to increase investment and boost production.
• Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen has also stressed that amid increasingly critical rhetoric from the US towards Europe, Europeans should focus on investing in their own defence.

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