European Armaments: Dependence and Austerity

What is the relationship between the causes and consequences of the European financial crisis and armaments trade within Europe? As the country at the center of the EU financial crisis, Greece has historically been one of the top global armaments importers. In the last decade, Greece’s arms have been imported primarily from Germany. From 1995-2011, Greece was the second largest recipient of German arms overall. After the financial crisis began in 2008, the IMF/ECB rescue packages imposed public sector spending cuts across the board starting in 2010 (defense reduction of €500m in 2011). Although these budgetary cuts were initiated, the value of arms sales from Germany to Greece expanded tenfold from 2009 to 2010.  In 2012, Greece doubled its NATO contributions and increased defense expenditures by 18.2%.  This increase is not for new arms contracts or licenses, but instead to fulfill the terms of arms contracts ordered from regional powers such as France and Germany in the last decade.  While Greece has slashed domestic spending, it has not been able to renegotiate arms contracts with Germany to halt (or reduce) the production of weapons platforms such as submarines and tanks, nor has Greece been able to convince Germany to extend the deadline or terms of payment on these weapons systems.  This empirical narrative of German regional arms hegemony and the lack of armaments austerity as a solution to the financial crisis highlights a contemporary case of regional armaments dependence and the political economy of European defense expenditures.