Europe | A concrete wall

As Donald Trump threatens NATO, the Baltic states stiffen their defences

Russia’s formidable installations in Ukraine are reviving interest in fortification

Defensive installations on a road in a forest in Estonia
Concrete solutionsPhotograph: Ministry of Defence of Estonia

THE SPECTRE of Donald Trump returned rudely to Europe on February 10th, when the former president told a campaign rally that he would encourage Russia to attack nato allies who did not meet the alliance’s target of spending 2% of GDP on defence. Mr Trump’s message jangled already frayed nerves: in recent weeks, a succession of European defence ministers and spy chiefs have warned that war with Russia is more likely and closer than assumed in the past. “It cannot be ruled out that within a three- to five-year period, Russia will test Article 5 and NATO’s solidarity,” warned Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmark’s defence minister, on February 9th. “That was not nato‘s assessment in 2023. This is new information that is coming to the fore now,” he explained.

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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Bunkering down”

Europe February 17th 2024

From the February 17th 2024 edition

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