A country's priorities in spending is important.

Military (click here) expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities....

Europe's ports are in close proximity to Russia and it's ports. There are areas where Russian vessels cross European waters to reach a port in a closed harbor. So, the idea mines could be deployed to effect the security of NATO is very real.

The Belgian government (click here) on Friday, January 26, (2018) decided to give the department of defense its green light for the acquisition of six new mine countermeasure vessels.

The order will be placed jointly with the Netherlands Navy which will acquire an identical number of MCM ships.

In addition to mine countermeasures, the two countries are collaborating on the purchase of new frigates, two units for each country.

Belgium will be in charge of MCM acquisition while the Netherlands is to lead the frigate project.

With the government’s approval, the Belgian Navy will spend 1.1 billion euros on the entire MCM project which will include a range of unmanned systems including unmanned surface, aerial and underwater vehicles alongside towed sonars and mine identification and neutralization ROVs....