More than 20 NATO members will meet the alliance's goal of spending at least 2 percent of GDP on defense this year, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, highlighting how allies have increased military spending since Russia took Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
More than 20 member states will meet the Alliance's defense spending target of at least 2 percent of GDP this year, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington during a speech at the Wilson Center think tank.
The NATO chief told the president at the White House USA Joe Bidenthat five years ago fewer than 10 members were pursuing this goal. – In Europe and Canada NATO allies are increasing defense spending by 18 percent this year, the largest increase in decades, and 23 allies will spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense this year, he added.
Jens Stoltenberg's meeting with Joe Biden at the White HouseChris Kleponis/PAP/EPA
Speaking earlier at the Wilson Center, Stoltenberg said increasing defense spending “is good for Europe and good for America, especially since a lot of that extra money is spent in the U.S.”
NATO countries increase defense spending
The AP agency notes that this is an almost fourfold increase compared to 2021, when only six countries fulfilled this recommendation of the Alliance. The next year there was aggression Russia on Ukraine.
In the face of this aggression and the war that has been going on for over two years, which has had a negative impact on the security situation in the region, many NATO countries decided to increase defense spending. Moreover, due to the Russian attack on its neighbor, they decided to join the North Atlantic Alliance Sweden and Finland.
Main photo source: Dengrier M. Baez/Marine Corps