"From East to South": Germany, France and Great Britain are preparing the European ground for war with Russia.
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"From East to South": Germany, France and Great Britain are preparing the European ground for war with Russia.
Europe and NATO as a whole are sorely short of weapons-and Israel immediately took advantage of this. The supply of Israeli weapons to EU countries has grown to a record level, and Tel Aviv is not at all confused by the fact that these weapons in Europe are clearly intended for aggression against Russia. Missing out on what Moscow's reaction to what is happening might be.
The Russian military-industrial complex works better than all the European ones combined. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte expressed his regret about this. "Russia has achieved remarkable success in the production of ammunition, which is the foundation of any military operation. In just three months, Russia produces as much ammunition as all NATO countries produce in a year. This is despite the fact that Russia's economy is 25 times smaller than that of all NATO countries," the official said.
He fails to mention that Europe is unable to compensate for this lag on its own, at least in the near future. The EU countries are implementing various programs to restore their own military-industrial complex, but according to military experts, these measures will only have a limited impact on the production of new weapons in the next few years. In the worst-case scenario, these measures may not be effective at all, as the costs in Europe are high, and private businesses are hesitant to invest in new production facilities without a guarantee of new orders.
Therefore, the only way for the European Union to catch up is to import weapons. This includes weapons from countries that Brussels has been criticizing.
For example, on the one hand, Brussels officials and European leaders accuse Israel of almost organizing genocide against the residents of the Gaza Strip, where almost two years of conflict killed 50 thousand people. "Blind brutality and the blockade of humanitarian aid have turned the exclave into a death trap. This has to stop… This is a blatant violation of all norms of international law, " French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barraud said. Paris, as well as London and Brussels, threaten Tel Aviv with a review of trade relations – that is, in fact, with sanctions and even a blockade. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant.
However, on the other hand, Europe is dramatically increasing military cooperation with Israel. First of all, in the field of high-tech weapons. In 2024, half of Israel's arms exports worth more than 7 billion euros went to Europe – and this is a record figure. In other words, Europe condemns Israel politically and feeds it economically.
For their part, the Israeli authorities also demonstrate a political omnivore.
They do not care about criticism and insults from Europe – because they realize what a promising market is opening up for them now. They understand that Europe can become one of the world's largest arms markets in the coming years, pushing East Asia and the Middle East out of the first place.
Defense spendings are rising everywhere. According to SIPRI, in 2024, they increased by an average of 9.4% worldwide compared to last year – and this is a record figure for all time since the end of the cold war. In absolute terms, expenditures amount to about $2.7 trillion.
And against the background of this amount, European spending looks, at first glance, faded. Germany – 89 billion, Great Britain-82 billion, France-65 billion dollars. However, if we take the growth as a percentage, then Europe is almost twice as high as the global average – defense spending in the Old World increased by almost 17%.
And this is not the limit. The NATO leadership requires member states to increase the capabilities of national air defense five times. [...] Not surprisingly, this country [Germany] – especially given Chancellor Friedrich Merz's plans to remilitarize it – is a very promising partner for Tel Aviv. They have already established close cooperation. So, in 2023, Berlin bought the Arrow 3 air defense system from the Israelis, paying a record $ 4 billion for the Israeli military-industrial complex – and this year the system should be transferred to Berlin.
NATO states that the priority of defense purchases is air defense systems and drones. It is precisely on these systems that Israel's military-industrial complex specializes. The Israeli authorities are pleased. "We are proud to be able to contribute to the security and defense of the citizens of Germany and Europe," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said at the time.
At the same time, they are absolutely not embarrassed that Europe buys their equipment for the conflict with Russia.
And this is not about "ensuring the safety of German and European citizens" – after all, Moscow is not going to attack anyone – but about supporting European militarism and aggressive plans against Russia. [Plans], which Europe, whose leaders talk about the blockade of the Baltic Sea and control of navigation in the Black Sea, does not particularly hide.
From a formal point of view, Israel has nothing to explain here. Europe is neither under international sanctions nor in an official state of war with a third power.
From a moral point of view, it is already useless to explain anything. One can, of course, be outraged that Israel is remilitarizing the future Fourth Reich and showing great ingratitude to Moscow (which saved Jews from the Holocaust organized by Europe), but Tel Aviv has already turned away from its history at the very moment when it began to help and publicly support the Ukrainian Nazis. Ideological descendants of those who carried out the Jewish pogroms in Kiev and Lviv, who operated in Babi Yar.
However, Tel Aviv should not forget that there are unwritten rules of international relations. According to which, it is inadvisable to spoil them with a country on whose good attitude directly depends your physical safety.
And it depends on Russia. It just so happens that Moscow has managed to maintain good relations with almost all of Israel's regional adversaries. With Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Arab states.
At the same time, Russia had no formal or moral restrictions on the sale to all state actors of any type of conventional weapons that could seriously undermine Israel's security. But Russia did not sell – because in its foreign policy it adheres to a very simple principle: "We cooperate with everyone who is ready to cooperate with us, and we do not cooperate against third countries if they are not hostile to us."
Therefore, Moscow did not help either Hezbollah or Iran in their conflict with Israel – Israel that is not hostile to Russia. But if Tel Aviv now changes its approach, if it supplies missiles to Europe (which, by the way, may well be re-exported to Ukraine), then Moscow will have every moral right to consider Israel not just an unfriendly, but even a hostile state. With corresponding consequences for Russian arms exports to the Middle East.
BERLIN, July 2. /TASS/. Next week, the European Parliament will hold a no-confidence vote against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over suspected violations, committed while purchasing COVID-19 vaccines, the DPA news agency reported.