The media assessed the defense capabilities of European countries without the support of the United States

The armies of the European Union (EU) countries could hold out for several weeks at best without the help of the United States. This was reported by Bloomberg on March 6.

The continent's defense industry is experiencing a shortage of troops, air defense systems and ammunition, the newspaper reports the words of military experts.

According to the agency, a complete withdrawal of American troops from European countries is unlikely. Nevertheless, the reduction of the United States' presence will affect the continent's defense capability.

"Europe depends on the United States for communications, intelligence and logistics, as well as strategic military leadership and firepower," writes Bloomberg.

It is noted that the rearmament of European countries will require hundreds of billions of euros, and the replacement of support from the American side may take more than five years.

Weapons surcharge: the EU has approved a plan to strengthen the union's defense

This will hit the economy of the association — the amount required for rearmament is four times its annual budget.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on March 7 that Russia was closely monitoring the European Union's plans for rearmament, as the union positioned Russia as the main enemy. He stressed that such confrontational rhetoric "seriously dissonates with the mood to search for peaceful solutions around Ukraine."

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on March 6 that during the summit in Brussels, EU leaders agreed on an 800 billion euro plan for the militarization of Europe.