Europe’s borrowing binge to scale up its defence industry risks a new debt crisis, a leading Dutch politician has warned.
Pieter Omtzigt, who heads one of the parties in the four-way coalition government, told the Financial Times that a plan to generate up to €800bn in military spending approved by EU leaders this month would push up interest rates and government debt levels in the bloc.
Dick Schoof, the prime minister of the Netherlands, backed the plan at the March 6 summit. But his decision has triggered a backlash in the Dutch parliament with three of the coalition parties, including Omtzigt’s centre-right New Social Contract, voting against it.