NATO members reach agreement in principle on defence spending standard
NATO countries have reached an agreement in principle on a new, much higher standard for defence spending. Spain no longer opposes spending 5 per cent of GDP on defence, the Dutch news agency ANP reports, based on comments from diplomats.
The agreement clears the way for the leaders of the 32 NATO countries to seal the increase at the summit being held in The Hague on Tuesday and Wednesday.
US president Donald Trump had demanded that members of the alliance increase their defence budgets from 2 to 5 per cent of their GDP. The demand has since been adapted to 3.5 per cent on pure defence spending plus 1.5 per cent on related infrastructure and services.
That includes tank-proofing bridges, scaling up the arms industry and cybersecurity.
Spain, however, called the increase “not only unreasonable, but also counterproductive” for the country, and believed that even at 2.1 per cent it would be able to pay for the military and equipment that NATO demands from each member to defend the alliance. Prime minister Pedro Sánchez, under pressure from his radical-left coalition colleagues, asked for an exception.
The Belgian government decided earlier that it does not oppose the increase to 5 per cent, but hopes for flexibility in when the threshold should be achieved.
A NATO military force stands guard outside the World Forum ahead of the two-day NATO summit in The Hague, 22 June 2025 © PHOTO REMKO DE WAAL / ANP / AFP
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