Belgium will meet NATO spending target in 2025
Belgium is expected to spend 2 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense in 2025, meeting the NATO benchmark for the first time since the target was established. New figures released by the alliance show that all 32 member states, including traditionally slower spenders such as Belgium, Canada, Spain and Italy, are on track to meet the ambitious goal this year.
The NATO defense spending target was set in 2014 in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Poland and Lithuania lead the pack, allocating 4.5 percent and 4 percent of GDP respectively, while the United States will spend 3.2 percent.
To achieve the 2 percent mark, Belgium has increased its defense budget by 57.4 percent this year. The federal government previously agreed to raise spending from 1.3 percent to 2 percent of GDP, with a full evaluation of the new standard scheduled for 2029.
NATO recently agreed on a new guideline of 5 percent, divided into 3.5 percent on defense and 1.5 percent on security-related investments, including infrastructure and cyber defense.
It remains to be seen how Belgium will reach the new NATO spending target. Although the country voted in favour of increasing defence spending, prime minister Bart De Wever said that his government has "no plans to do more before 2029".
Icelandic Air Policing
Belgium is also attempting to play a more active role in the alliance. Earlier this month, the country deployed four F-16 fighter jets and 98 personnel to Keflavik Air Base in Iceland for NATO’s “Icelandic Air Policing” mission. It is the first time Belgian jets have participated in the operation.
The mission aims to protect the airspace of a country without its own air force and to secure NATO’s northern flank. The Belgians operate in the region between Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom, an area of heightened strategic importance amid planned Russian military exercises.
Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever. © BELGA PHOTO ERIC LALMAND
Related news
