NATO countries were to agree to increase defense expenditure to 5 percent of GDP

NATO Member States have agreed to raise defense expenditure to five percent of GDP, said Reuters. One of the alliance countries is not to be covered by this commitment. At the end of June, the NATO peak will take place.

On Sunday, NATO Member States agreed on the content of the statement prepared for the upcoming peak of the alliance in The Hague, in which they agreed to set a new purpose of defense expenditure and raising it to five percent of GDP – said the Reuters agency.

The new level of expenses should be achieved by 2035, according to Reuters. The alliance members managed to overcome the objection Spain – the agency informed, citing diplomats close to the case.

The sources added that the declaration was adopted by all NATO countriesbut will be officially presented only after the approval of the leaders during the Hague peak.

Spain will not be obliged

– Spain will not be obliged to increase defense expenditure to five percent of GDP under NATO – said on Sunday at the press conference of the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. – Respecting the sovereignty of each ally in the field of allocating his resources, it makes no sense to spend five percent of GDP for Spain. The spreading issue of billions of euros would not make us better allies – the prime minister announced. He added that his country would spend 2.1 percent. Defense GDP.

The Spanish government came to an agreement on this matter with the North Atlantic Alliance a few days before the NATO summit in Hague, which will start on Tuesday.

The NATO summit in Hague will take place on June 24-25. Secretary General of the Alliance Mark Rutte It is to present to the Member States a proposal to allocate five percent of GDP for defense, including 3.5 percent for basic defense expenses and 1.5 percent for infrastructure and industrial investments related to security.

– The new defense investment plan will be the heart of the NATO summit in Hague. An important part of larger investments is to provide supply that will cover our increased demand. So we will work on increasing defense production. It is necessary for our troops to have critical abilities they need. It will be good for our safety and, incidentally, also good for our economies – said the secretary general of the Alliance.

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