Context: The European Parliament adopted a resolution on military mobility. According to the document, EU member states will create a “military Schengen” — a system that will allow troops and military equipment to move more quickly within the bloc. Its aim is to remove bureaucratic barriers at borders and modernize roads, bridges and railway lines.
While discussing the European Union’s military plans at a Security Council meeting on December 9, 2025, Alexander Lukashenko said that defense spending in EU countries is growing at the expense of social programs. Belarus-RTR aired a video clip from the event.
“Poland, Germany and other states, even the small ones we border, are not only increasing their military budgets but also trying to expand their armies. … But they have to justify this spending somehow at a time when people are growing poorer and maternity wards and hospitals are being shut down, when there is not enough money for education, when housing and utility costs are soaring — they have gone up roughly fivefold,” Lukashenko said.
According to Eurostat, electricity prices in the European Union in the first half of 2025 were indeed higher than in the same period of 2022 — by 15%. Among Poland, Germany, Lithuania and Latvia, which we selected for comparison based on Lukashenko’s remarks, the steepest increase was in Poland — almost 75% over three years. For gas, the sharpest rise was in Latvia — nearly double. On average across the European Union, gas prices for household consumers have risen by roughly one-third.
WTF reporters also found no fivefold spikes in water charges or other utilities. In Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, prices climbed by around one-third. In other EU countries, the increases were even smaller.
