For decades, it has been a secret from most Americans that the average European was given benefits that most of us couldn't imagine ever getting. Much longer vacations, better (and cheaper) health care, free (or nearly so) higher education, secure jobs, high pay and Illy coffee.

This was made possible, in large part, by the ability to spend only a token slice of their GDP;s on their military - first because of the very obvious placement of US troops and weapons on the continent to counter the Soviet Union, and following its collapse, the perception that Russia's military was in no position to threaten Western Europe - especially considering the unshakable confidence of being militarily backed up by the US.

The current US administration has made it clear that "America First" means that Europe had better be prepared to go it on their own.

Italy’s Il Manifesto criticizes the militarization of the EU:

It’s not just a specter that is haunting Europe, but a juggernaut that is mortgaging its future. It is the militarization of the political debate and the economy. This is now beginning to determine long-term decisions, prepared and made ‘self-evident’ by a forceful rhetoric that turns fear into consent and the defense industry into the inevitable future. ... This is a brutal and dangerous political decision at the expense of the peoples of Europe. We are facing a structurally planned rearmament, not just a temporary phase characterized by an increase in military spending.

It is easy to see the social structure a Europe being stressed as fund which previously supported a superior life-style for the common man to used to arm their respective countries - as well as those who see that life-style evaporating demonstrating to hold their grip on it.

Jeff