NATO members are close to a consensus on raising defense budgets to 5 percent of gross domestic product, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegzet said on Thursday.
“I think we are very close to a consensus on five percent of GDP at the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague,” he said at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, where he is participating in a meeting of defense ministers of the member states.
Of the five percent, 3.5 percent would refer to purely military expenditures, and the remaining 1.5 percent to costs related to security in a broader sense, such as border protection, cyber security, and infrastructure to increase military mobility.
Currently, only Poland is close to 5 percent of defense allocations, while some countries such as Spain and Italy have not yet reached the goal of two percent of GDP, which was set back in 2014.
Spain, which announced that it will raise defense spending this year from last year’s 1.3 percent to two percent of GDP, believes that this is quite enough, but announces that it will not block the setting of a new, much higher goal.
In NATO, all decisions are made by consensus, which means that only one member can block a decision.
“We think two percent is enough to meet the commitments we have made,” said Spanish Minister Margarita Robles, adding that her government would not block a decision to increase defense spending at the NATO summit in The Hague on June 24-25.
According to diplomatic sources, the new defense allocations will be intended to address deficiencies in various areas – from large formations of ground forces ready for combat, to long-range weapons, anti-aircraft and anti-missile defenses, sufficient supplies of ammunition and secure communications.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that his country will need between 50 and 60 thousand new soldiers to meet new goals in military capabilities, and defense costs, which would amount to 3 percent of GDP, reach the amount of 125 additional billion euros per year.
In order for NATO to ensure the fulfillment of the goals of increasing military capabilities, the member states will need to outline their national goals. According to diplomatic sources, existing military capabilities should be increased by around 30 percent.
