Allies strengthen eastern flank amid EU defense push
Starting in March 2025, Polish and Romanian F-16 fighter jets will conduct NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission from the Šiauliai air base in Lithuania. Poland is leading this 13th rotation, while Romania's "Carpathian Vipers" is participating in their third such deployment.
Together, the fighter jets protect the skies above the Baltic region, ready to intercept any unidentified aircraft and ensure the security of NATO’s eastern flank. This round-the-clock mission underscores the Allies’ resolve and regional solidarity, with both NATO member countries working shoulder to shoulder under NATO command.
Both Poland and Romania operate F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft, known for their speed and maneuverability. Equipped with advanced radar and interception systems, F-16s are ideal for NATO air policing missions, allowing pilots to react quickly and decisively to any violation of airspace.
But what about the European Union's defense plans in the meantime, beyond the NATO framework, which not all EU countries are part of?
To that end, the EU has decided to establish a loan fund for weapons, which could surpass the 150 billion euros initially allocated by the European Commission.
For the first time in history, the current European Commission has a Commissioner for Defense, the Lithuanian Andrius Kubilius, and the Commission has set aside "at least 127 billion euros - up to 150 billion - in potential defense acquisitions."
The 27 member countries, including Romania, can submit concrete projects to benefit from a portion of these funds, and it is already known that Poland has requested 45 billion euros - the largest sum among all countries taken individually. Italy has, in turn, allocated around 15 billion euros for the next five years. Lithuania, between 5 and 8.7 billion euros. Greece has announced it wants 1.2 billion euros. Belgium has requested between 7 and 11 billion. And Spain, the country that spends the least on defense within NATO, wants 1 billion euros to implement a series of programs, while it's believed that France's request will be under 20 billion euros.
All together, the cumulative requests could exceed the 150 billion euro ceiling set by the Commission. What happens then? The initial proposal mentioned access to the European Stability Mechanism—a support fund for the Eurozone that is currently unused—but this is difficult because the ESM was not designed for defense-related issues.
By contrast, some projects, returning to NATO, seem fanciful. For example, Italy would like to build a bridge to connect Sicily to the mainland, proposing it as a military project—thereby allowing it to be considered under defense spending objectives. The bridge would cost 13.5 billion euros, though it would, of course, be a significant boost toward achieving NATO’s 5% defense spending target, especially since Rome didn’t even reach 1.5% last year.
Spain, by contrast, is on the verge of concluding an agreement with NATO to be exempt from the 5% defense spending target, as announced by Spanish socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Sanchez is facing a difficult balancing act between aligning with NATO allies and persuading his junior coalition partner, the far-left Sumar alliance, which is hostile to an increase in military spending.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
