Is NATO's Eastern Countries Rearming Because Of President Trump?

FRONT AND CENTER: President Donald Trump jovially greeted fellow world leaders on Wednesday afternoon at the opening ceremony of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's leader's summit in Brussels

Ott Ummelas, Bloomberg: NATO's East Is Rearming, But It's Because of Putin, Not Trump

* Eastern European members raise spending on weapons systems
* U.S. President says he added $41 billion to allied purchases

Donald Trump has taken credit for a rise in military spending by NATO states, but in the alliance’s eastern reaches, it’s his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who’s driving the rearming effort.

Last month, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg thanked the U.S. President for “clearly having an impact” on defense spending by allies while Trump said his demands had added $41 billion to European and Canadian defense outlays.

But the jump in acquisitions behind the former Iron Curtain of aircraft, ships and armored vehicles began when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, well before Trump’s 2016 election victory, according to analysts including Tomas Valasek, director of Carnegie Europe in Brussels. While the median defense expenditure of NATO members is 1.36 percent of gross domestic product, below the alliance’s requirement of 2 percent, eastern members comprise seven of the 13 members that are paying above that level.

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WNU Editor: The security situation in eastern Europe was changing long before President Trump was elected, but you cannot help but feel that his election did speed up the arms buildup that is now occurring.