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25 Strongest Countries in Europe by Military Power

Habib Ur Rehman
10 min read

In This Article:

In this article, we take a look at the 25 strongest countries in Europe by military power. You can skip our detailed analysis of the European military dynamics and go directly to 10 Strongest Countries in Europe by Military Power.

The countries in Europe are aggressively increasing their arms procurement and military readiness in the wake of the Ukraine war. Apart from being militarily ready, the build-up is also meant to aid Ukraine in its resistance against Russia. 

In this regard, Germany is exceptionally important, since its military industry plays a crucial role in European defense. On January 20, western nations agreed to ramp up their military support for Ukraine. However, Germany has so far paused its delivery of indigenously-made Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine. 

According to the newly appointed German defense minister Boris Postrius, the decision is motivated out of a need for “risk assessment” of such a move.  This, however, did not prevent other European countries like Poland, Finland and Baltic countries from moving ahead with plans to deliver their own Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine. 

Despite German hesitance on Leopard-2 deliveries, the country is set to deliver indigenously made Marder infantry vehicles and Cheetah anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine due to an agreement signed with the US in December, 2022.

Europe's Military Preparation: Numbers

According to the European Defense Agency, European military spending stood at $231 billion in 2021, a 6% increase from the previous year. It was the seventh year of back to back growth in military spending on the continent. 

The spending was at a historic low in 2014, at 1.3% of EU’s GDP. However, the Russian takeover of Crimea in the same year, followed by the Trump administration’s insistence on an increase in military contributions by other NATO members, led to a consistent increase in spending observed in the following years, aggregating at a 32% in real terms in 2021. 

In June, 2022, the German lower house parliament approved a defense fund of over $100 billion that was announced in February of last year in response to the Ukrainian invasion. The fund is aimed at topping-up Germany’s regular defense budget over the course of next few years to help rebuild its military.

The fund should enable it to meet NATO’s 2% defense-spending target, which would make Germany the third biggest military spender behind the US and China. In that respect, the increase in military spending in Europe is likely to continue and may even accelerate. Current projections put forward by EDA show a growth of $76 billion in defense expenditures by 2025.

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