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The block has agreed to increase spending to 5% of GDP, but Spain, Belgium and Slovakia said they would have trouble reaching Target.
NATO allies have agreed to massively stimulate military spending while affirming their “commitment to do everything” in collective defense.
The managers of the 32 -member block have undertaken to allocate up to 5% of their national GDP in La Défense and the related sectors by 2035, describing the decision as a “quantum jump” in collective security.
The new commitment was made in a summit Communal agreed on Wednesday in The Hague. He said members “would invest 5% of GDP each year in basic defense requirements as well as defense and security expenses”.
The commitment includes a review in 2029, practically fixed after the next American presidential election, to assess progress and reassess the threat posed by Russia.
NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte, According to the agreement as “transformational”, a feeling echoing several leaders, although it has subcontracted clear differences within the alliance.
US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly pressure on NATO’s higher commitment to defense expenses, has taken the quarter work.
“(It’s) something that no one really thought possible,” Trump said at the top. “They said,” You did it, sir. You did it. “Well, I don’t know if I did it, but I think I did it.
In a decision that will probably have Trump’s favor, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that the United Kingdom plans to spend at least 4.1% for defense and security by 2027.
Expenditure divisions
Not everyone is on board. Spain has already said that it could not reach the 5%target. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez insisted that his government would stick to the 2% existing threshold – a first reference set after Large -scale invasion of Ukraine Russia in 2022.
“Spain can make NATO defense plans at 2% of GDP,” said Sanchez. “This summit ensures both our national security and the well-being of our citizens.”
Spain is NATO The lowest expenditure in defense. In 2024, he spent 1.24% and was one of the nine member countries not to reach the target of 2%.
Trump was quick to criticize Madrid’s position, threatening reprisals by economic means.
“They want to stay 2%. I think it’s terrible,” said the American president. “We negotiate a trade agreement with Spain – they will end up paying double.”
Belgium and Slovakia have also raised objections. Brussels warned that the calendar was not realistic, while Bratislava said he reserved the right to make independent decisions on his own military spending.
Steep expenditure requests
Despite the decline, the declaration offered new targets: 3.5% for NATO’s “defense expenses”, more additional 1.5% for larger security measures – improvements in infrastructure such as roads and ports to cyber -defense and emergency intervention capacities.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store described the agreement as unprecedented.
“We had trouble for years just to exceed 2%,” he said. “Now we are talking about 3.5%, which is necessary to strengthen the capacity we need.”
Expenditure requests are steep. While the United States is increasingly moving the strategic attention of the Middle East and Indo-Pacific, European members are invited to further assume the military burden.
The commitments come as the United States remains engaged in several theaters, including the support of the weapons underway for the fight of Ukraine against Russia, the support of the War of Israel against Gaza and the support of continuous strikes in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. More recently, the War of Israel with Iran has further stretched American military resources.
