Military procurement corruption – NATO’s turn

This article by DW, highlights the corruption concerns in NATO procurements. Corruption in military procurements are particularly challenging as such procurements as less transparent due to the military secrecy needed when making purchases. In the present situation there are “[r]evelations of an unfolding corruption investigation involving staff and ex-staff at the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) have continued to emerge, with a total of five detentions — two in Belgium and three in the Netherlands — made public so far.”  Unfortunately, such accusations of corrupt are coming at a difficult time when there is so much uncertainty regarding Russia ad the war in Ukraine. “[T}he European Parliament does not have its normal budgetary oversight over money sent to Ukraine for its defense needs through the European Peace Facility. More than €10 billion has already been allocated to Kyiv through the mechanism, which is outside the EU budget.”

What needs to be done? This will continue to be an issue, and the procurement systems need to be as transparent as possible. What governments must begin to do is require transparency in defense spending procurement and create more robust oversight systems. The arguments of secrecy can and should be overcome. The amounts of money spent should not fall through the cracks, the public deserves better as the monies that fund NATO are taxpayer monies from NATO partners.

Link:

https://www.dw.com/en/nato-corruption-drones-defense-arms-procurement-ukraine-eu/a-72562793