ReArm EUROPE” – Multi-tool of warfare against the peoples
The EU has announced the “ReArm Europe” program worth 800 billion euros, signalling a rapid increase in its war spending.
It is thus reinforcing the war economy strategy and armaments of the previous period, escalating its involvement in the imperialist war in Ukraine. Its aim is to play a leading role on the Ukrainian front in conditions of heightened Euro-Atlantic antagonisms and US-Russian bargaining.
The Commission’s announcements on the 800 billion include the following directions:
– 650 billion from the increase for the next few years of the war expenditures of each member state to at least 3.5% of their GDP, for which the people will pay dearly through taxation, harsh cuts in wages, pensions and social rights.
– 150 billion in loans that will gold-plate the business groups, with the people again footing the bill, in addition to the repayment of the 750 billion of the Recovery Fund.
– Subsidies, facilities and financing of the war industries through the European Investment Bank, which the peoples will also repay in various ways. Besides, the first 100 days of the new EU Commission include the activation of the so-called European Savings and Investment Union. Among other things, it is about insurance fund reserves that “will be converted from savings into investments”, including those in the profitable sector of … war.
– Joint procurement and arms production at the EU level, with ‘golden’ subsidies from the bleeding of the people to mitigate war arms orders from the USA and other competitors. All in order to strengthen the EU groups in the relevant competition.
“White Paper” of war
Along with “ReArm Europe”, the EU strategy of the White Paper “European Defence” is expected to be published in the next few days. This focuses on the conditions detrimental to the peoples, so that the EU can be ready for a direct confrontation with Russia within five years, as the EU staffs claim.
The despicable resolution of the European Parliament in this regard, jointly proposed by the European People’s Party, the Social Democrats, the Liberals, the far-right and the Greens.
The resolution refers to “preparing for the most extreme military emergencies” and calls for, among other things, that military spending can reach up to 5% of GDP, a “head tax” on the people of 0.25% of the GDP of each member state for military aid to Ukraine, the creation of a “Defence Bank” and the issuance of military Eurobonds…
A key part of this strategy is also the so-called ‘military mobility’, as recently announced by the Greek Transport Commissioner. This will be funded to the tune of 70 billion so that Euro-NATO troops, dangerous loads of armaments and war material can roam unhindered around the EU.
The aim of all of the above is to catch NATO standards of “well over 2% war spending of GDP for each country” and “liberalising the use of public funding at the national level”.
Of course, there is no more cynical confession of who will ultimately foot the bill than the very statements of NATO Secretary General Rutte, who was quick to make it clear that to increase war spending there would have to be cuts in pensions, salaries, health care, etc.
It is also indicative that the EU has announced that funds from the EU’s so-called ‘Cohesion Funds’ will be redirected to war spending. In other words, even the little funds that go to fire prevention, flood prevention, anti-seismic projects, “support for the vulnerable”, etc. are useless for capital,so they must be… paid off in the pockets of the war industry conglomerates.
“Clauses” of complacency
The announcement of “ReArm Europe” was accompanied by an organised cultivation of complacency… The EU claims that there will be no tax and other burdens on the people because of the so-called “escape clause” from the EU Stability Pact rules on public debt and deficits of the member states’ economies.
This is certainly an attempt to deceive. Because regardless of whether or not they are recorded in deficit or debt, with or without the Stability Pact rules, war spending will be paid for by the people in multiple ways: With Euro money sucked out through savage taxation, customs duties and so-called “own resources” (see EU taxes). In addition, with Eurobonds and various EU special funds and loans.
There are already talks of imposing a new digital tax, which through the competition between the digital monopolies will also be passed on to the users, i.e. the people.
It is interesting that in order to pass this immense package that the people will have to pay for decades, the EU did not even bother to approve it through “its” European Parliament. Instead, it activated Article 122 of the Lisbon Treaty which provides for direct decisions in “exceptional” and “difficult” circumstances.
Thus, once again … the hypocrisies of all the apologists of EU about democratic procedures, the ‘rule of law’, accountability and other fairy tales go out the window.
All the above that were decided at the expense of the people for their bloodshed – literally and metaphorically – show what the “fatalism” of all the bourgeois powers and especially of the social democracy, about the allegedly “weak” and “unwilling” EU, which “watches the developments and does not intervene”…
Calculations of Bourgois interests
Of course, the EU’s criterion for action has not been, is not and will never be the interests of the people. Their aim is to strengthen the position of the imperialist union itself and the European groups, the bourgeoisie on the Old Continent at the expense of their competitors Russia, the USA and China.
The EU and the bourgeoisies each on their own behalf see that although they have invested politically, economically and militarily in the imperialist war in Ukraine, the USA is bargaining for its termination with the strong possibility of territorial losses of Ukraine on the battlefield. And all this while – as it appears – the European bourgeoisie will lose the scarce lands for the control of which they had nurtured expectations at the start of the war.
The first of all is Great Britain, which, having concluded an agreement with Ukraine in January for the 100-year exploitation of its rare earth minerals, finally sees itself coming … second only to the USA. This is one of the main reasons why for the first time in many decades it is coming into direct confrontation with the US.
In the face of this situation, the way out for the European monopolies is the premium of their “war economy” in two parts. One in the line of strengthening military support for Ukraine for as long as the war lasts and the second in that of so-called “security guarantees” for the next day. They are even considering sending military forces to Ukraine, or even the creation of a military presence in the country, or even the creation of an air or “nuclear umbrella”, using the French and British nuclear arsenals.
In this environment, the ND government of Greece, which already spends more than 3% of the country’s GDP on military armaments (almost double the EU average), complains that the ‘ReArm Europe’ package will mainly reward bourgeois governments that have so far – compared to the Greek – lagged behind in armaments, while those that have been ahead so far, such as the Greek government, have not received much…
Already, it is raising the bar even higher with a new armament programme until 2036 of 25 billion in new arms supplies, including new submarines, drones, satellites and fighter aircraft, according to a plan to be presented to Parliament. At the same time, they already announced commitments of even greater military support for Ukraine.
The bourgeoisie of Greece through these moves is attempting a multiple and complex pursuit. On the one hand, to keep a “reserve” position for the Greek corporations in the great feast of the imminent reconstruction of Ukraine. At the forthcoming summit in Rome in July, they are claiming a significant share in the reconstruction in Odessa, making use of the historical roots of the existence of populations of Greek origin there and in other regions of Ukraine.
In other words, just as Trump asked for … back the 350 billion of US war aid through contracts for rare earths and other valuable raw materials, the Greek bourgeoisie is sharpening knives to benefit from the huge pie of reconstruction in Ukraine. And all this won the backs of the Greek people who have paid for armaments, which instead of defending the country served NATO needs and ended up in the hands of the bourgeois Zelensky government.
This is one of the main reasons why, despite the US and Trump administration’s moves in Ukraine by reaching out to Russia and conducting the bargaining for a fragile imperialist arrangement and ceasefire, the government of the ND has not differentiated itself from the general EU line of supporting and arming Ukraine.
The appetite of the bussiness groups is growing
Besides, the lucrative “ReArm Europe” package has also increased the appetite of the Greek corporations to strengthen the military part of their business. Among them are companies that do not necessarily specialise in arms manufacturing, but are planning to develop such activity with guaranteed state and EU support.
And what some people claim about the revitalisation of the ‘Greek Defence Industry’ covers up its chronic problems and its NATO orientation. It should also be noted that the contracts of the business groups within the framework of ‘ReArm Europe’ are foreseen to last for several years, precisely so that the monopolies can operate in a state of ‘predictability and security’, while the people will have to pay them back in the midst of general uncertainty and military involvement.
It is precisely this bidding for NATO armaments, with record performance, that the government of the ND seeks to present as “compliance with NATO requirements” and “counterbalance” for bargaining with the Trump administration.
In other words, it aims to pass the Indo-European trade and energy corridor IMEC through Cyprus and Piraeus and to exclude the alternative route, which saw the light of day a few days ago and bypasses Cyprus and Greece to end up in Italy and France.
Indeed, Meloni’s visit to the US coincided with the publication of such alternative scenarios. Trump’s recent post, which reinstates the corridor ending in Piraeus, confirms the growing antagonisms over the outcome of the case.
The issue of the final destination of the route is linked to the further strengthening of the energy and commercial plans of the Greek business groups, from which the people have so far lost many times over, and will lose out again, because it is they who will pay back the business profits.
The upgraded role of Turkey
For its part, the Turkish bourgeoisie is using its role as a mediator in the US-Russia talks as much as it is allowed to. It has strengthened its negotiating position since its intervention in Syria by supporting the jihadist regime. This is why it has become more involved in Euro-NATO bargaining (it is a NATO country with the second largest army), such as at the recent London conference and the meeting of the chiefs of staff in Paris, together with powerful bourgeoisies of European countries.
The EU Council Conclusions explicitly state that the Union will work with like-minded non-member countries “in a coalition of the willing”. These are Turkey, the UK, Norway, Iceland and Canada. At the same time, according to the Financial Times, NATO Secretary General Rutte is exerting strong pressure for the inclusion of Turkey in the “common European defence”.
Of course, these invitations to Turkey are not being made in a vacuum, as its bourgeoisie appears to have strengthened its war industry in recent years. Particularly in the new generation of unmanned weapons, where it has a strong share. Also, the Turkish war industry “Baykar” made the strategic acquisition of the Italian war industry “Piaggio Aerospace” at the end of the year. With this move, it has now also acquired a direct link with one of the three largest war industries in Europe, the Italian “Leonardo”.
At the same time, Turkey, through its enhanced role in Syria and its support for the jihadists, has approached France in order for a French group to retain the exploitation of the strategic Syrian port of Latakia on new favourable terms.
These developments explain why Turkey has obtained an order for the Meteor missile systems and the Eurofighter, with the blessings of France, much advertised in our country as a supposedly “close” ally of Greece.
Imperialist quicksand
The conclusion is that the people should have no illusions that through such complex interests, through such endless relations between imperialist unions and alliances, through agreements between bourgeois classes, there will be a safe and secure way to safeguard the country’s borders and sovereign rights.
The aggression, the cynicism, the signed agreements on the imperialist quicksand, the changeable attitude of the bourgeoisie according to the priorities of each one, cannot therefore be attributed – as the apologists of this system claim – to some “quirk” of Trump or “oddity” of Erdogan. On the contrary, they are a characteristic feature of capitalism in its imperialist phase.
What we have described, the wars, the fierce intensification of imperialist antagonisms even within the Euro-Atlantic camp, the ruthless bargaining at the moment for rare earths in Ukraine, Greenland, Congo, Taiwan, etc, the new round of tariffs on strategic markets such as copper, alumina, steel, etc., the dangerous developments on the international scene, are intensifying popular concern. They bring closer the imminent capitalist crisis, the possibility of which the capitalists are attempting to stem through the strengthening of the war economy.
Bankrupt and dangerous path
This bankrupt and dangerous road is defended by the government and all the bourgeois parties, and that is why they find it increasingly difficult to draw “dividing lines”.
With the constant euphemism that with a change of government the country’s bourgeoisie would have an even more elevated role, more invitations to Euro-NATO forums and big gains in the imperialist alliances, the social democratic forces in particular are silencing the fact that the people will come out of all this with multiple losses.
They conceal the real causes of the imperialist war, the great dangers of “military mobility” – including by rail – which the class workers’ movement haverevealed and with rich activity, the blockades of opposition and the revelations that have exposed the role of this strategy are a valuable legacy.
The EU is neither weak nor spineless. It is a European transnational union of capital, and it and the capitalist system it serves can only be overthrown. Independence for the people is not that of the EU from its competitors, nor the calls for the EU to take sides.
Instead, it is its own independent struggle for its own interests and needs against the EU – governments – bourgeoisie. And the “escape clause” from the Stability Pact does not negate the fact that the peoples in the EU are being asked to pay the heavy bill in blood, war budgets, refugees, war engagement.
The real class struggle in the “new era” of the dangerous escalation of intra-imperialist competitions and war conflicts, in which the EU is at the forefront, is the struggle so that the peoples do not become meat for their cannons, so that they do not get caught between imperialist war and peace “with a gun to their head”.
With their struggle they can overthrow the imperialists’ war-mongering plans, free themselves from the shackles of the EU and the capitalist power that they defend.
To pave the way for their own “new era” of solidarity, peace, friendship and equal cooperation of the peoples.
