More than 20 member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are projected to allocate at least 2% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the Defense area in 2024.
This information was confirmed this Monday (17) by NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, in a statement that highlights the significant increase in military spending in these countries since the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014.
Stoltenberg, who made the announcement during a presentation at think tank Wilson Center in Washington, USA, highlighted that, five years ago, less than 10 members of the alliance met this spending target. The upward trend in military spending by NATO members was triggered by Russia’s invasion of Crimea and gained further momentum following the full invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Secretary-General emphasized that member countries’ commitment to increased spending is beneficial to both Europe and the United States, especially as a large portion of this additional investment is directed to North American companies.
According to Reuters, in the last two years, more than two-thirds of Europe’s defense acquisitions, totaling more than US$140 billion, were from US companies.
“I can now reveal that this year more than 20 allies will spend at least 2% of GDP on Defense,” Stoltenberg said.
NATO, which now has 32 members, has seen only three of them – the United States, Greece and the United Kingdom – meet the 2% of GDP defense target in 2014, when the target was set.
The move to increase defense spending has become a highly controversial issue in recent years, especially under the presidency of Donald Trump, who has accused Europeans of underspending on their own security and relying excessively on the US for protection.
Along with increasing defense spending, NATO is also discussing the possibility of putting more nuclear weapons on standby, removing them from storage, as a deterrent measure in the face of growing threats from Russia and China.
Jens Stoltenberg revealed this fact during an interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph.
“I won’t go into operational details about how many nuclear warheads should be in operation and which ones should be stockpiled, but we need to consult on these issues. That’s exactly what we’re doing,” Stoltenberg told the newspaper.
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