How many soldiers would Europe be able to mobilize to protect itself in the event of a Russian attack? This question is answered by an article from the Foglio, which published a confidential document that has been circulating in Brussels for days with all the numbers of troops that each country would make available if Vladimir Putin’s threats became reality that is, the war crossed the borders of Ukraine.
The document consists of three columns. The first lists the number of soldiers currently serving in each EU member country. The second column lists the number of military reserves, which can be used if necessary. The third column indicates the numbers relating to the overall military forces that each country should have available in the event that Europe was called upon to support a war effort.
The sum of soldiers on active duty, continues Il Foglio, is considered equal to the quota 1,368,510 (France has the highest number, 208,750, followed by Germany with 183,500 units and Italy with 165,500). The sum of total reserves reaches 1,277,980, led by France (254 thousand), Greece (221,350) and Portugal (211,700), while those of Italy are 18,300. If you add this figure to the previous one, you arrive at a defined number relating to the overall military force to be activated in case of need: 2,646,440. A lower number, the newspaper notes, than Russia’s overall military force, made up of around 1,154,000 soldiers in service and around 2 million reservists already involved: we are at 3,154,000.
