Nato
Stoltenberg: Higher defense spending possible
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks to members of the press. photo
© Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/dpa
The relevance of defense is now more present in many minds than it was a year ago. To date, NATO members have paid two percent of their GDP to the alliance. That might change.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg sees the two percent target for defense spending as an “absolute minimum”. The number was not chosen arbitrarily, he told the “Spiegel” in an interview published today. “All allies have agreed on certain abilities that they consider absolutely necessary.”
This applies to tanks, ammunition, aircraft, ships and others. “If you take that into account, then two percent is the lower limit of what we need,” said Stoltenberg.
Talks are currently being held in NATO about the future goal. An agreement should be reached at the latest at the summit on July 11th and 12th in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) had already made it clear in February that he also only saw the two percent of gross domestic product (GDP) as the lower limit. A tightening would, however, require an increase in German defense spending by an amount in the tens of billions. So far, Germany has spent significantly less than two percent of GDP on defense.
When asked specifically about German spending, Stoltenberg emphasized: “I expect all allies who have not yet reached the two percent to do so as soon as possible.” Germany is moving in the right direction and has decided to buy fifth-generation fighter jets and helicopters. That takes a certain amount of time.
At its 2014 summit in Wales, NATO set a target of two percent for defense spending for all member states. Last year, however, only seven NATO countries reached the goal.