"Really close": NATO guns for 5% GDP defense budget
NATO edging towards consensus on allocating 5% of member nations' GDP for defense spending
Hang tight, folks! Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is buzzing with excitement about an imminent agreement among NATO partners to beef up their defense spending. The partners are a whisker away from sealing the deal on the U.S.'s proposed five percent of GDP for defense expenditure – a dash of optimism Hegseth shared on Thursday during the NATO defense ministers' powwow in Brussels.
"A handful of countries still need a wake-up call," Hegseth admitted, but no names were dropped. "We'll give 'em the shake they need," he declared, referring to the NATO summit coming up in June at The Hague.
Old Man Trump – I mean, Trump – previously made a big stink about pulling support from NATO allies shirking their military spending duties, with a 5% GDP target in his sights.
NATO Sec-Gen Mark Rutte proposed that alliances should fork out at least 3.5% of their GDP on defense and an extra 1.5% on defense-related infrastructure by 2032. Germany and France are already on board, while some countries like Spain and Italy seem to be dragging their heels on such lofty aspirations.
According to reports from ntv.de and AFP, this fresh spending target could be nailed down during the upcoming NATO summit in June 2025. The nitty-gritty details are still up for grabs, but the end goal is to get more NATO members footing a bigger piece of the defense bill to beef up collective defense capabilities in the face of challenges from Russia, China, and other nefarious forces.
Community policy discussions within the NATO sphere may need to consider the potential impact of increased defense budgets on member states' economies, given the proposed target of 5% GDP for defense expenditure. The common foreign and security policy of NATO could be significantly bolstered if more countries meet this defense spending requirement, which could in turn influence finance, business, politics, and general-news sectors.
