This week’s NATO summit in Ankara was the most anticipated for some time. After five years of war on the continent, and two years of rancour from a confrontational White House, it was the moment for Europe to prove it's serious about its own defence.
At Tuesday’s Industry Defence Forum, European allies heralded $50 billion (€43 billion) of deals for defence production and procurement, covering submarines, Patriot missile defence systems, interceptors, ammunition, all presented as proof that the alliance is on a credible path to spending 5 percent of its GDP on defence by 2035.
