Defense products in Europe have become more than 50% more expensive in two years — Estonian Defense Minister

European countries are facing rising costs of defense products — over the past two years, prices in some cases have increased by more than 50% due to increased NATO defense spending.

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur stated this at the Lennart Meri Security Conference in Tallinn, according to Ukrinform, citing Bloomberg.

“Prices are going up.I have discussions with my national armament director constantly. What we see is that when we bought something two years ago, and when we now want to increase these quantities what we bought — the same thing — then the price has gone up like 50%, 60% for some items,” he said.

The sharp rise in prices for weapons and military equipment complicates NATO’s defense spending plans, as Europe is under pressure to rapidly rearm. In addition, Bloomberg notes, Europe must take on a major share of supplies for Ukraine while the United States shifts its attention to other regions.

Pevkur described the situation as a “chicken and egg” problem: countries see a shortage of supply on the market, but the European defense industry is not ready to increase investment until governments sign contracts.