The Impact of Public Budget Distortion on the Defence Capabilities of the New European Nato Member States

NEČAS, Kamil and Vojtěch MÜLLNER. The Impact of Public Budget Distortion on the Defence Capabilities of the New European Nato Member States. Online. In International conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION. Sibiu, Rumunsko: "Nicolae Balcescu "Land Forces Academy, 2022, p. 32-38. ISSN 2451-3113. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.2478/kbo-2022-0045.

Basic information

• Original name: The Impact of Public Budget Distortion on the Defence Capabilities of the New European Nato Member States
• Authors: NEČAS, Kamil and Vojtěch MÜLLNER.
• Edition: Sibiu, Rumunsko, International conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION, p. 32-38, 2022.
• Publisher: "Nicolae Balcescu "Land Forces Academy

Other information

• Type of outcome: Proceedings paper
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• Publication form: electronic version available online
• ISSN: 2451-3113
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/kbo-2022-0045
• Keywords (in Czech): obranyschopnost; free-riding; hospodářská krize; investice
• Keywords in English: defense capability; free-riding; economic crisis; investment

Abstract

Armies' capabilities are determined by their endowments of resources. The economic crisis that began in 2008 has distorted public budgets, which forced states to start cost-cutting policies. If we focus on the policy of new NATO member states, we can observe that public expenditure cuts affect defense budgets in different states in various ways. If we compare the defense capabilities of countries at the beginning of the economic crisis and ten years after the outbreak of the crisis, the reduction in defense spending is reflected in the loss of some defense capabilities due to the limited possibilities of maintaining and modernizing existing military equipment. Countries that have reduced their defense spending over the long term show a more significant loss of defense capability than countries that reduced their defense spending only in the period immediately after the economic crisis. The different approach to defense spending confirms the previously described phenomenon of free-riding by some NATO member states, which rely on the defense capabilities of their alliance partners while they are slowly losing their defense capabilities.

Abstract (in Czech)

Schopnosti armád jsou dány jejich vybaveností zdroji. Hospodářská krize, která začala v roce 2008, narušila veřejné rozpočty, což donutilo státy zahájit politiku snižování nákladů. Pokud se zaměříme na politiku nových členských států NATO, můžeme pozorovat, že snižování veřejných výdajů ovlivňuje obranné rozpočty v různých státech různým způsobem. Porovnáme-li obranyschopnost států na počátku ekonomické krize a deset let po jejím vypuknutí, snížení výdajů na obranu se projevuje ztrátou některých obranných schopností v důsledku omezených možností údržby a modernizace stávající vojenské techniky. Země, které snižovaly své výdaje na obranu dlouhodobě, vykazují výraznější ztrátu obranyschopnosti než země, které snižovaly své výdaje na obranu pouze v období bezprostředně po vypuknutí hospodářské krize. Rozdílný přístup k obranným výdajům potvrzuje již dříve popsaný fenomén free-ridingu některých členských států NATO, které se spoléhají na obranyschopnost svých aliančních partnerů, zatímco samy pomalu ztrácejí obranyschopnost.

Abstract (in English)

Armies' capabilities are determined by their endowments of resources. The economic crisis that began in 2008 has distorted public budgets, which forced states to start cost-cutting policies. If we focus on the policy of new NATO member states, we can observe that public expenditure cuts affect defense budgets in different states in various ways. If we compare the defense capabilities of countries at the beginning of the economic crisis and ten years after the outbreak of the crisis, the reduction in defense spending is reflected in the loss of some defense capabilities due to the limited possibilities of maintaining and modernizing existing military equipment. Countries that have reduced their defense spending over the long term show a more significant loss of defense capability than countries that reduced their defense spending only in the period immediately after the economic crisis. The different approach to defense spending confirms the previously described phenomenon of free-riding by some NATO member states, which rely on the defense capabilities of their alliance partners while they are slowly losing their defense capabilities.