Well, Russia has got one of the strongest militaries, that's for sure, atleast in manpower (because frankly, Russians do have modern equipment, but it's not enough for their whole army, which is understandable, military is expensive - but hey, they still have lots of older vehicles and weapons, which can be used, so they can be considered as a strong military force).
The EU itself might be strong, but only if the countries worked together, in case of open attack from Russia. Poland has increased it's army reserves and has acquired lots of American tanks. Germany has good equipment and some manpower too, someone also mentioned Finland here.
But as I said, in case of an attack, they would need to work together, otherwise, they are all screwed.
And we haven't mentioned China, as this is about military forces in Europe.
I personally like Switzerland. Yes, it might not be the most powerful country and it's "real" army is actually small, however I like the fact that they all have guns and are ready to use them in case of incoming threat. And yes, I also like their weapons.
They need to work together indeed but its not like many people say that Russia can invade EU easily. They dont last a chance against whole EU. If someone starts war with China, they might lead war for a while but China will win, its just matter of time. They can use 10 million if not 20 men in a war.
Also in a war it depends in which battlefield they are fighting on. Many countries used forests, mountains and other places that they know better than enemy.
@ Raisun: Russia got a lot of new weapons but no one is sure how powerful they are. 2 Armata tanks freezing in hellmarch(whatever its called) and also 2-3 planes falling down.
Lets count Russia and Turkey for now since everyone talks about it.
My new list then:
1. Russia
2. Turkey
3. Germany (advanced technology)
4. UK
5. France
6. Italy
7. Spain
8. Poland/Greece (Improvement after WWII)
9. Finland (One of biggest reserve army in Europe ~900 000)
10. Netherlands
I must be honest, i said that Russia wouldnt be my top1 but in fact it actually is more powerful than EU countries.
The UK still has the advantage over Germany being an island. Also the difference between financial state and technical weapons between the two is very small.
You need to remember about all aspects of modern warfare. Chemical or nuclear weapon and intelligence are very important as well. Not tanks and number of soldiers only.
Yes, as I've said, approximately 3% of turkeys landmass are on the european tectonic plate. That means, they are part of the european continent. So you can count them as "european", as much as you can count them as asian.
russia is also often counted as a european country, even if most of its landmass are on the asian tectonic plate
germany strongest european country look back in nazi germany days if they didnt start war with russia we propably now speak german about russia they are in asia but i dont think they count as asians or europeans they are neutral both .
@ rokeliuxas: i don't really think so, no country in the world is the strongest,Without a community like the EU or NATO wars would start literally everywhere