Recently, multiple European countries have launched a series of war readiness and civil defense measures that were unimaginable a few years ago. These measures include extending military service, expanding reserves, building shelters, withdrawing from the landmine ban treaty, and considering the deployment of NATO nuclear weapons. The scope extends from the Baltic States, Poland, and Finland to Germany, France, the UK, and the EU level.

Finland has raised the upper age limit for reserve conscription to 65 years, aiming to expand its reserve force to nearly 1 million, and has officially withdrawn from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines, becoming one of the most aggressive NATO member states. Estonia has expressed willingness to deploy NATO nuclear weapons on its territory if necessary, while constructing bunkers, trenches, and anti-tank barriers along its border with Russia, and participating in the newly established "Baltic Defense Line" project. Latvia and Lithuania have also withdrawn from the landmine ban treaty, both building defensive works, anti-tank barriers, and minefield capabilities in border areas, with Latvia also expanding civil defense and national resilience initiatives.

Poland has expressed willingness to deploy NATO nuclear weapons on its territory and is advancing a military and reserve system with a total scale of about 500,000 personnel, planning to train up to 100,000 reservists annually, and considering military training preparations for all adult males. Poland has also withdrawn from the landmine ban treaty and is promoting the "Eastern Shield" project, which includes defensive works, monitoring systems, anti-drone facilities, and potential minefields.

Germany is cataloging subway stations, tunnels, garages, and basements to assess the potential for air defense shelters that could accommodate about 1 million people, while registering and evaluating eligible young men for military service, and preparing plans for the eastward deployment of hundreds of thousands of NATO troops and equipment in the event of large-scale war. Sweden has issued a manual titled "In Case of Crisis or War" to the public, guiding citizens on how to respond to power outages, air raids, communication disruptions, and potential occupation scenarios. Denmark has expanded conscription to include women and extended the mandatory service period from 4 months to 11 months. France has developed a public survival guide covering emergency supplies, radio communication, and radiation protection, encouraging citizens to participate in reserve and civil defense organizations.

The UK is restarting the government-level "War Books" mechanism to coordinate military, civilian, industrial, and utility planning, preparing for nationwide domestic defense drills, and enhancing the protection of energy systems, water supply, communication, and underwater cables, while formulating response plans for cyberattacks, fuel shortages, and supply chain disruptions. The UK has also relaxed the recall threshold for retired military personnel, theoretically allowing the recall of retirees up to 65 years old, and is increasing production capacity for weapons, drones, and ammunition. At the EU level, it has been suggested that all 450 million residents should at least stockpile enough food, drinking water, medicine, cash, and emergency supplies to last 72 hours, and strategic reserves are being built to respond to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear emergencies. Currently, there has been no confirmation of nuclear weapons being deployed in Finland, Estonia, or Poland, but the relevant countries have expressed or are considering opening the door to this possibility.

In terms of funding trends, at the NATO summit in June this year, member countries reached an agreement to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP, a significant increase from the 2% threshold established at the 2014 Wales summit, marking an unprecedented rise in NATO history. The European defense budget has increased by about 50% in nominal terms compared to 2022, and is expected to continue accelerating in the coming years. Driven by this, European defense stocks have generally risen sharply this year, with BAE Systems up about 20%, Babcock up about 17%, Rheinmetall up about 15%, and Italian Leonardo and Swedish Saab also performing strongly, with the pan-European defense and aerospace stock index recently seeing a single-day increase of up to 2.5%. Meanwhile, U.S. President Trump has proposed increasing the U.S. defense budget for fiscal year 2027 to $1.5 trillion, a roughly 50% increase from the previous baseline of $1 trillion. In terms of funding, institutional investors and defense contractors that continue to increase their investments in defense and infrastructure assets are direct beneficiaries of this wave of military preparedness, while large-scale emergency reserve plans in the energy, food, and commodity markets may also provide additional support for the marginal demand of related categories.

Source: Public Information