Rutte: NATO will agree on defense spending of 5% of GDP at the Hague summit
Alliance countries must achieve new indicators by 2032
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte believes that alliance members will agree to a common defense spending target of 5% of gross domestic product, he said at a meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, Reuters reports .
NATO intends to agree on new goals at the summit of alliance leaders in The Hague on June 24-25.
"I assume that in The Hague we will agree on a high defense spending figure of 5% overall," Rutte said.
As reported by the agency, Rutte earlier sent a letter to all NATO members. In the document, he stated that he expects the commitments at the NATO summit to be 3.5% for military spending and 1.5% for broader security-related issues such as infrastructure, cybersecurity, etc.
The indicators should be achieved by 2032.
- On January 23, Trump announced that he intends to ask NATO countries to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.
- On January 27, the FT reported that Lithuania and Estonia had pledged to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP after pressure from Trump.
- On March 18, the Estonian government approved an increase in defense spending to at least 5% of GDP in 2026.
