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DW: NATO member states must allocate at least 2% of GDP to defense every year

2024-06-19 09:34:20Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

DW: NATO member states must allocate at least 2% of GDP to defense every year

Germany reported defense spending of 90.6 billion euros for NATO for the current year 2024, thus clearly reaching the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's target of two percent.

According to NATO data, this record amount represents a share of 2.12 percent of Germany's projected gross domestic product (GDP). This rate is now higher than expected at the beginning of the year.

23 countries will reach the target

The federal government, in light of the Russian attack on Ukraine, has decided to meet NATO's 2014 defense spending target for the first time this year. This goal envisages that member states allocate at least two percent of their GDP to defense each year. According to the new figures, 23 member states are likely to meet or even exceed this target this year. In 2014, only the USA, Great Britain and Greece reached the target. According to NATO data, last year 11 members allocated two percent or more of their GDP to defense.

Poland at the top – Spain, Slovenia and Luxembourg at the bottom

The current leader in the allocation of funds for defense is Poland with spending of 4.12 percent of GDP on defense, as well as Estonia with 3.43 percent. Both countries are ahead of the USA, which in 2024, according to the latest estimates, should reach a percentage value of 3.38 percent. At the bottom of the list are countries such as Spain, Slovenia and Luxembourg, which are currently below 1.3 percent. Also, Belgium (1.30 percent), Canada (1.37 percent), Italy (1.49 percent) and Portugal (1.55 percent) will fall significantly behind the NATO target. In total, current estimates predict that NATO's 32 member countries will spend about US$1.5 trillion (about EUR 1.4 trillion) on defense this year. When inflation and exchange rate fluctuations are taken into account, this represents an increase of 10.9 percent compared to the previous year. At the same time, only European allies and Canada recorded an increase of 17.9 percent.

Praise for 'largest increase in defense spending in decades'

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who is currently in Washington to prepare for the NATO summit, praised this development in a meeting with US President Joe Biden as "the biggest increase in decades of last". The figures show that both European allies and Canada are now taking their share of responsibility for the protection of all members of the NATO alliance. Biden spoke of "record numbers" from allies, who are now meeting their defense spending targets. His potential challenger in the next presidential election, former US President Donald Trump, has repeatedly insisted on higher defense budgets for allies during his tenure.

Allies are significantly increasing defense spending in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The aim is to significantly strengthen deterrence and defense to make it clear to the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, that an attack on any European country within NATO has no chance of success. At the summit in Washington from July 9 to 11, the allies will commit to further increase financial support for Ukraine, Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg defends Trump

In February, Trump said at a campaign rally that he would not help NATO partners in the event of a Russian attack unless they spent enough on their defense. Instead, he would encourage Russia to "do whatever it wants" with them. In an interview with "Welt" and American media, Stoltenberg defended Trump against accusations of questioning the military alliance. "Donald Trump did not primarily criticize NATO. His criticism was directed at the members of the Western military alliance, which do not invest enough in NATO," said Stoltenberg./ DW


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