NATO announces new negotiations to increase defense spending

BRUSSELS, 3 Jan. (DPA/EP) -

The NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, has announced on Tuesday new negotiations with the member countries on the increase in the defense budget, especially given the current geopolitical situation.

"Some allies are strongly in favor of raising the 2 percent target and making it a minimum," he pointed out, before stating that he will lead these types of talks. "We will meet, we will have our meetings at the ministerial level, we will talk about money," she asserted.

In this sense, he has indicated that he is sure that the Member States will be able to reach an agreement with a view to the next summit, scheduled for July 11 and 12 in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.

Currently, NATO members must contribute as much as possible at least 2 percent of their Gross Domestic Product to allocate it to Defense by 2024, a matter that was agreed in Wales in 2014 after the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

Stoltenberg, however, has not specified which allies are now requesting an increase in this ceiling, which he has referred to as the "threshold" on previous occasions. Countries such as Poland, Lithuania and the United Kingdom have recently been in favor of reaching an agreement to increase funding in view of the advance of Russian troops in Ukraine.

However, Germany, Canada and Belgium, among others, have expressed their rejection of this measure given that they invest less than 2 percent of GDP in Defense. The dispute over the increase in this budget increased especially under the mandate of now former US President Donald Trump, who came to accuse the German government and other European allies of threatening to cause the United States to leave the alliance.