Europe Must be Ready for War, Claims Donald Tusk

Facts

• Polish Prime Minister and former European Council head, Donald Tusk, believes Europe's in a 'pre-war era' and that the next two years will 'decide everything' for its future, it has been reported.¹
• Tusk said that, amid Russia's Ukraine invasion, war is 'no longer a concept of the past,' adding that Europe is witnessing its 'most critical moment' since WWII.²
• Urging NATO members to match the bloc's 2% GDP spending target, Tusk said Europe 'needs to do more' to secure its defense regardless of US election results.³
• In 2023, the bloc's European members spent around $347B — approximately 1.9% of their GDP — on NATO defense, more than 2022's 1.7%.⁴
• Poland spent $32.2B — an estimated 3.9% of its GDP — on NATO defense in 2023, which was the highest of all members. The US's $876B came in second at 3.5% of GDP.⁵
• Tusk's comments followed the breaching of Polish airspace by a Russian cruise missile. Poland has since increased troop presence along its Belarus and Russia borders.⁶

Sources: ¹EL PAÍS English, ²BBC News, ³POLITICO, ⁴NATO, ⁵nato.int and ⁶RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty.

Narratives

• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by Euro Weekly News. Everyone knows that Russia's aggression in Ukraine threatens Europe's stability. Tusk's comments are not the first of their kind, and the Polish Prime Minister in many ways has merely reaffirmed what many already know; Europe has entered a new era and the continent must prepare to defend itself.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by RT. NATO's widening of the scale of European conflicts is now an increasingly credible reality. The West is intensifying tensions between Russia and European nations to a breaking point. All this scaremongering by the US and its allies, which vilifies Russia, is merely an excuse to deploy external troops in Ukraine.

Predictions