More than 20 Nato allies to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence in 2024, says Stoltenberg

WASHINGTON - More than 20 Nato members will meet the alliance’s target of allocating at least 2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to defence in 2024, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on June 17, highlighting how allies have raised military spending since

Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

He told US President Joe Biden at the White House that the number of Nato allies now meeting that spending target compares to less than 10 members five years ago.

“Across Europe and Canada, Nato allies are this year increasing defence spending by 18 per cent – that’s the biggest increase in decades – and 23 allies are going to spend 2 per cent of GDP or more on defence this year,” he said.

Speaking earlier at the Wilson Centre think-tank, he said the increase in defence spending by the allies “is good for Europe and good for America, especially since much of this extra money is spent here in the United States”.

Mr Stoltenberg was in Washington for preparations for July’s Nato summit in the US capital, a topic that he and Mr Biden discussed as well.

Mr Biden said the alliance is facing one of the most consequential moments for Europe since World War II as Ukraine battles Russian forces.

“We’ve strengthened Nato’s eastern flank, making it clear that we’ll defend every single inch of Nato territory,” said the US leader.

Mr Stoltenberg said that when Nato leaders set the 2 per cent of GDP target at their summit in 2014, only three members – the US, Greece and Britain – met that target.

At that time, there were 28 members. Nato now has 32 members.

Meeting reporters after his appearance, Mr Stoltenberg said the trend in increased military spending by Nato members was triggered by Russia’s seizure of Crimea in 2014.

Nato defence spending has become highly contentious in recent years, particularly as former US president Donald Trump has accused Europeans of spending too little on their own security and relying on the US for protection.

Earlier in 2024, Trump – the presumptive Republican candidate in 2024’s US presidential election – sparked outrage by suggesting he would

not protect Nato members that failed to spend enough on defence

and would even encourage Russia to attack them.

Defence spending by many European nations has risen sharply since

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,

and Nato officials have been keen to stress that its European members are now stepping up to the plate.

Nato defence spending will be a major topic at July’s alliance summit in Washington, Mr Stoltenberg said, followed by Russia’s war against Ukraine.

He warned that the delay in the provision of US military aid to Ukraine that occurred earlier in 2024 cannot be allowed to happen again. REUTERS