PRAGUE (AP) — European nations boosted their defenses in response to the annexation of the Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a London-based think tank said Friday, but much remains to be done for them to be ready to face threats from Russia.
That’s the conclusion of a report released by the International Institute for Strategic Studies released as it opened a three-day gathering in the Czech capital to discuss European and transatlantic military capabilities.
“NATO has not just significantly increased its ambitions regarding its deterrence and war-fighting posture, but European members have sought to address critical capability and readiness shortfalls,” the report said.
“Unsurprisingly, however, after decades of neglect and underinvestment, much remains to be done and progress has been mixed."
It was released as European leaders, including NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, were reassessing their trans-Atlantic relations in Budapest, Hungary in the hope that Donald Trump’s second U.S. presidency will avoid the strife of his first administration and maintain a strong common stance on Russia.
Ben Schreer, executive director, IISS-Europe, said that European defense is “at the most critical time” now. “The U.S. election will add even more pressure on European nations to invest more in their own defenses but at the same time considering how to continue to help Ukraine win this war.”
During his election campaign, Trump threatened actions that could have groundbreaking consequences for nations across Europe, from a trade war with the EU to a withdrawal of NATO commitments and a fundamental shift of support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
During his first 2017-2021 term, Trump pushed NATO's European members to spend more on defense, up to and beyond 2% of gross domestic product, and to be less reliant on U.S. military cover.
In that respect, some progress has been made, with 2024 defense spending by NATO’s European members states 50% higher than it was 10 years ago, the report said.
But problems remain, the IISS said, naming a lack of stability in public financing that “ultimately limits (the defense) industry’s ability to invest with confidence.”
Moreover, “regulatory hurdles and application of environmental, social and governance standards will continue to act as barriers to investment,” it said.
Europe’s defense industry managed to increase output of some products after 2022, especially those with high demand from Ukraine, such as air defense and artillery. But European countries also donated their own weapons to Ukraine, including F-16 fighter jets, and “remain dependent on the U.S. for some important aspects of their military capability,” looking also to Brazil, Israel and South Korea to meet their needs due to a lack of their production capacity.
Competition with civilian industries for raw materials and skilled professionals makes things harder for the defense industry, the report said.
It also warned that many European armies don’t have enough military personnel. A lesson learned from Russia’s war against Ukraine is “that countries need significant troops to engage with and defeat enemy attack, but also enough forces to regenerate after combat attrition."
By that standard, “key European armed forces remain under-strength.”
Europeans have a long way to go to renovate their defense capabilities, the report said.
“Forces, budgets and defense-industrial capacities were reduced because of political decisions by governments. These same governments now need to rediscover the ‘muscle memory’ of defense and security, ensuring sustained policy attention and investment to meet the new strategic realities in Europe.”
FILE - In this photo provided by Ukraine's 24th Mechanised Brigade press service, servicemen of the 24th Mechanised Brigade install anti-tank landmines and non explosive obstacles along the front line near Chasiv Yar town in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday Oct. 30, 2024. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukrainian 24th Mechanised Brigade via AP, File)
FILE - A Ukrainian serviceman of the Bugskiy Gard unit prepares a 120mm mortar before firing towards Russian positions on the front line, in the Kherson region, Ukraine, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Marko Ivkov, File)
FILE - A serviceman of the 13th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine fires Giatsint-B gun towards Russian positions near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
The question sounds so basic and friendly. But it’s actually loaded, as many mothers can attest. “Do you just love getting to be home with him all the time?” asks the younger, more put-together woman in the supermarket. “Must be so wonderful.”
Wonderful, of course — and sometimes brain-numbing and soul-draining too, some exhausted fulltime moms might reply. Especially if, like Amy Adams’ character in Marielle Heller's “Nightbitch," they’d left their prized art gallery job to this other woman.
And so Adams responds, twice, showing in this very opening scene exactly why her typically brave, brutally frank performance lifts this movie from an oddly uneven script to something unequivocally worth seeing.
First we get the honest answer, the one no one really gives until later in the shower: she feels “stuck inside of a prison of my own creation,” where she torments herself and ends up binge-eating Fig Newtons to keep from crying. She is angry all the time. Oh and, she has gotten dumber.
Then we rewind and director-writer Heller has Adams give her real answer: “I do, I love it! I love being a Mom.”
There we are, two minutes and 13 seconds into “Nightbitch” and you may already find yourself wowed by Adams. If not, just wait until her Mother is sitting at a chic restaurant with a bunch of colleagues from the art world, and her fangs come out.
And we don’t mean figuratively. We mean literally.
Let’s go back to the beginning, shall we?
“Nightbitch” is based on the 2021 novel by Rachel Yoder, a feminist fable that the author has said came from her own malaise when pausing work for child-rearing.
She sets her tale in an unidentified suburb of an unidentified city. Mother (characters all have generic names), formerly an admired installation artist, spends her weekdays alone with her adorable, blond 2-year old Son. Husband has a job that seems to bring him home only on weekends.
The early scenes depicting Mother’s life are tight and impactful, a contrast to the confused havoc that will come toward the end of the film. Life revolves around the playground and the home, with occasional trips to storytime at the library where she notes, in narration, that she has no interest in the company of other moms — why should they be friends just because they're moms?
In fact, Mother lives in solitude, and director Heller does a nice job illustrating how that feels. You can almost feel the weight of the afternoon coming around, at this comfortable but hardly ostentatious home, when it’s too early for dinner and you’ve done all the activities already and you wonder if you can make it through the day.
Then things start to get weird. In the bathroom mirror, Mother starts noticing things. Her teeth are getting sharper. There’s something weird coming out of an apparent cyst at the bottom of her spine. She finds extra nipples. And that’s before she starts eating rare meat. (Also, if you love cats, you may want to close your eyes at one point.)
Somehow Adams, who also produces here, makes these things seem, if not quite natural, then logical. What's happening is that Mother’s frustration is becoming ferocious. Dangerously ferocious. But also — empowering. At night, or so she thinks, she is a wild dog.
Aspects of the film work wonderfully. Mother’s relationship with Son (twins Arleigh and Emmett Snowden) is lovely, largely due to a decision to let the young boys talk freely, with the adult actors reacting to their words. It lends a grounding realism to a film that quickly veers surreal.
Less successful is the relationship between Mother and Husband (Scoot McNairy), which takes on too much importance as the film goes on, in a baffling way. (Also, just asking, has anyone in this movie ever heard of a babysitter?)
More importantly, a story that posits itself on such a tantalizing idea — that by transforming into a dog, Mother discovers her true nature and power — resorts late in the game to a safer story about a marriage that never seemed appealing enough for us to care about anyway. It doesn't help that it's hard to grasp the distracting subplot about Mother’s own mother.
None of this takes away from the strength of Adams’ performance. You believe her love for her child as much as you believe her resentment for what he is taking away from her. And Adams can make almost any line work, including one about a walnut. But we digress.
It’s an irony that for reasons of storytelling, characters have generic names — because Adams is such a singular and particular talent. The journey she embarks upon is bizarre indeed, but you won’t regret taking it with her.
“Nightbitch,” a Searchlight Pictures release, has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association “for language and some sexuality. “ Running time: 98 minutes. Two stars out of four.
This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Amy Adams, left, and Scoot McNairy in a scene from "Nightbitch." (Anne Marie Fox/Searchlight Pictures via AP)
This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Amy Adams in a scene from "Nightbitch." (Anne Marie Fox/Searchlight Pictures via AP)
This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Amy Adams in a scene from "Nightbitch." (Anne Marie Fox/Searchlight Pictures via AP)
This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Amy Adams in a scene from "Nightbitch." (Searchlight Pictures via AP)
This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Amy Adams in a scene from "Nightbitch." (Searchlight Pictures via AP)
