La Libre Belgique interview with ASD's Burkard Schmitt on Defence Finance

Maria Udrescu’s article in La Libre Belgique looked at the debate within the EU on financing defence readiness and capabilities. Burkard Schmitt, ASD’s Defence & Security Director was quoted:

"The misconception that defence is not sustainable is still very much enshrined in the financial markets. After many years of peace, people don't like arms. You may not like arms, but our armed forces need them to protect us..."

"It is clear that if we are serious about being prepared for a conventional war within 5 years, as some have warned, much more money is actually needed than that. Take Germany as an example: it decided to invest 100 billion in its defence, but 2/3 is already spent only to fill some capability gaps that have been there for long. You would probably need a lot more to ensure that the armed forces are actually prepared for a large-scale military conflict. And this is only for Germany."