Bilateral defense agreements. Poland among European leaders

The Norwegian dailyAftenposten decided to calculate the defence agreements signed between European countries in recent years. Since 2022, the point at which the full-scale war in Ukraine broke out, 175 mutual agreements have been concluded in Europe. For comparison, it is worth noting that between 2014 and 2022, there were only 25 such agreements.

France holds the record

Which nation leads the pack? Since the aforementioned 2014, France has concluded the most agreements (38). Germany and the United Kingdom signed slightly fewer, with 36 bilateral defence treaties each. Outside the top three were Norway, with 31 signed agreements, and Poland, which has signed 25 agreements over the last 12 years.

The main reason for the intensification of signed agreements is, of course, the ongoing war in Ukraine and Russian escalatory actions aimed at NATO. Another reason for the observed state of affairs could be the deteriorating relations between the Old Continent and the United States under Donald Trump’s administration. The announcement of the withdrawal of thousands of American troops from Europe, the recent dispute over Greenland, higher tariffs for the European Union, and the weakening of sanctions on Russia contributed to a decline in Europeans« trust in Washington.

The USA remains the foundation of NATO

Attempting to become more independent from the United States is not a negative development. However, it is worth remembering that the Americans remain by far the most significant force in the North Atlantic Alliance, without which NATO cannot function effectively.Aftenposten rightly assessed that agreements between European partners alone are not enough to replace the United States. „The USA is like the »NATO operating system«. Without American intelligence, satellites, and communications, European armies lose the ability to operate as a single force,” the daily noted.

We wrote more about the agreements concluded by Poland in a broader analysis available at this link. Recently, Poland has concluded defence agreements with the United Kingdom and Norway.

Source: PAP/ Defence24