An estimated 18 of the 31 NATO member states will spend 2% of their GDP on defence this year, according to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, a record high for the alliance.
Stoltenberg shared the figure as defence ministers gathered for a meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
The 2% mark was set in 2014, at a time when only 3 NATO countries met that objective. While some of Europe’s largest economies also fall below 2%, European countries situated on the northeastern ‘flank’ of NATO near Russia - Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - all spend above 2%.
According to Stoltenberg, a sum of 354 billion euros is expected to be spentby member countries on defence: “We are really making progress and the European allies are spending more on defence.”
An increase in military spending would reinforce NATO’s position that an attack against any one of its members would be pointless and have no chance of success.
“We can never take peace for granted, but there is no imminent military threat to any of our NATO allies. NATO will continue to ensure that there is no room for misinterpretation by Moscow regarding our preparedness, our commitment and our determination to defend our allies,” said Stoltenberg.
The Council of Defence Ministers will also discuss further aid for Ukraine, to which Stoltenberg said:
“We will also continue to help Ukraine, both in terms of supplies and logistics. And the Allies will continue to make large deliveries of weapons, equipment and ammunition.”
NATO’s support for Ukraine is making a difference in the war and it represents an investment in our own security, the General Secretary emphasised.
Among European countries, Luxembourg performs the worst in terms of spending on defence.
Most of the 27 EU countries spend between 1% and 2% of their GDP on the military, but for Luxembourg it is 0.7%.
Four EU countries, including Luxembourg, spend less than 1%: Ireland, Malta and Austria, however they are not members of NATO.
Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden announced in December last year that “a plan will be drawn up to increase the country’s defence efforts within the Union”.
In this context, it was stated in the coalition agreement that Luxembourg plans to spend 1% of GDP on defence by 2028. “The aim of Luxembourg’s defence is to increase efforts to reach 2% of GDP in the medium term, in line with the discussions at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023.”
At the summit in Vilnius, however, an exception was made for Luxembourg. For the Grand Duchy, Gross National Income should be considered as the benchmark for spending instead of Gross Domestic Product.
Another NATO summit is scheduled for July this year, where Defence Minister Yuriko Backes will present the details of the Grand Duchy’s new policy.
