What’s really behind Europe’s 5% defense push

EU Confidential

POLITICO

Politics, News Commentary, News

4.4 • 175 Ratings

🗓️ 20 June 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As NATO leaders prepare to endorse a dramatic defense spending hike, Europe faces a reckoning: Where will the money come from — and will new tanks mean cuts to pensions? Host Sarah Wheaton speaks with Michelle Haas, a defense analyst at Ghent University and an associate fellow at the Egmont Institute, about how the proposed 5 percent target is landing across the continent — and how countries are planning to fund the military buildup (or pretend to in order to placate Donald Trump). Then, two politicians, one from the center right and the other from the center left, explain why they think the push goes too far. Sammy Mahdi — leader of Belgium’s Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V), a party in the country’s governing coalition — calls the 5 percent goal “crazy.” Ralf Stegner, a senior German Social Democrat, co-authored a provocative manifesto urging Chancellor Friedrich Merz to invest in diplomacy, not militarization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Today's episode is presented by Equinoor.
0:03.0	From Norway, Equinore has more than gas in the pipeline.
0:07.0	Reliable supplies of gas for Europe today without losing sight of the energy systems of tomorrow,
0:14.0	building innovative offshore wind farms, enabling safe CO2 storage,
0:20.0	while exploring how hydrogen can help reduce the emissions of European
0:24.2	industry because when it comes to energy solutions we're always searching for better
0:29.9	equinoa on june 25th iron heart arrives on disney Plus. What is going all with you?
0:37.9	From Marvel Television, an executive producer, Ryan Coogler.
0:40.9	I wanted to build something undeniable, but now I'm in trouble.
0:43.9	Don't miss the sixth episode of Vand.
0:45.8	I joined a crew of criminals, and now I'm about to get killed by a deranged man in a cake.
0:50.9	Be the first to experience the all-new series.
0:53.7	You've bitten off a hell of a lot more than you can too.
0:55.8	Don't get you a lot.
0:56.7	Marvel Television's Ironhard.
0:58.6	Streaming June 20th, only on Disney Plus.
1:00.9	18 plus subscription required.
1:02.2	Decentcies apply.
1:03.7	2% is not nearly enough.
1:06.3	To stay safe in the years to come,
1:08.6	Allies will need to spend considerably more than 2%.
1:11.6	I know spending more on defense means spending less on other priorities.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 16 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from POLITICO, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of POLITICO and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.