ROME: Pope Leo on Thursday decried rising European military spending, which grew last year by the highest amount since the end of the Cold War amid pressure from US President Donald Trump, saying it was a betrayal of diplomacy.
Leo, who has drawn Trump’s ire in recent weeks after criticizing the Iran war, told university students in Rome that they should not refer to such rearmament as defense spending, adding that the world was being “maimed by wars.”
“Let us not call ‘defense’ a rearmament that increases tensions and insecurity, impoverishes investments in education and health, betrays trust in diplomacy, and enriches elites who care nothing for the common good,” said the pontiff.
Military spending across the continent rose 14 percent in 2025 to $864 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and rearmament by European NATO members.
Trump has repeatedly chastised European allies to spend more on arms, and signed an executive order in February that would re-prioritize the customer list for US weapons in favor of countries with higher defense spending.
