Record Number of NATO Allies to Hit 2% Defense Spending Goal

Turkey, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the newest alliance member Sweden as well as their neighbor Norway are all also expected fulfill the 2% target. 

Greater Investment in Military Equipment
Speaking to DW, Davis Ellison, a strategic analyst from the Hague Center for Strategic Studies, said that the collective recognition of NATO targets is especially noticeable when examining how much defense spending is now dedicated to new equipment.

“In the past, you had a lot of focus on personnel costs, which ranges everything from pension to health care and everything else,” Ellison explained. “But now you have a much greater collective investment in equipment, which is more to meet NATO targets than anything else.” The security expert pointed out that this extra spending compounded NATO’s military might.

Of NATO’s 32 member states, only Canada and Belgium are not expected to meet the NATO guideline of 20% defense spending going to equipment.  Iceland is also expected to fall short of the target, albeit because the country does not have a standing military at all.

Countries including Croatia, Portugal, Italy, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and Spain will not reach the NATO minimum defense spending goal.

Trump and Russia Worries
Former US President Donald Trump, who is hoping to return to the White House after the November elections, rattled the alliance in February saying that he would “encourage” Russia to attack members of NATO who had not met their financial commitments.

“I would not protect [NATO members],” Trump said to supporters at a rally. “In fact, I would encourage [Russia] to do whatever … they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.” This prompted a strong response from the White House, condemning Trump’s statement as “appalling and unhinged.” NATO chief Stoltenberg pointed out that the suggestion that “allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security.”

Ellison believes that uncertainty about the future was prompting so many countries to increase their defense spending to meet NATO’s targets. 

“There’s always a little bit of that specter behind the scenes of what happens. If Donald Trump wins again, then there is significant reduction in US support to Europe,” he said. “At the same time, I think it is just part of a collective recognition amongst many of the other NATO members, that there is a significant threat from Russia.”

Ellison also believes that member states will reaffirm their defense spending commitments at the upcoming NATO summit in Washington ahead of the US elections in November.

“The real watershed for whether or not that sticks around would be the summit in the Netherlands next year, depending on what the administration is,” he added. “But even beyond the US administration, I think there’s a bit of a rush to get this, because you’re also going to have the elections in the UK and France. This is a very election-heavy year.”

The NATO summit hosted by the United States in Washington will take place from 9-11 July.

Henry-Laur Allik is a DW journalist. This article was edited by Maren Sass, and it is published courtesy of Deutsche Welle (DW).