NATO member nations grappling to achieve the 5% defense spending threshold set by the alliance.
US Defense Sec Hegseth confident NATO'll meet Trump's 5% defense spending demand, but the actual goal is a 3.5% increase by 2035.
In a meeting with NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Hegseth stated that the alliance will reach the 5% target by The Hague summit later this month. However, the true goal is a new target of 3.5% of GDP on core military spending by 2035.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius plans to raise the number of active German soldiers by around a third, while the question is whether the voluntary military service will be sufficient in the coming years.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte expects significant investment pledges at the upcoming summit, with the alliance's current target being the existing 2% GDP. However, some Eastern European states argue that the 5% goal should be achieved within five years, while others find it too ambitious.
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Lili Bayer, Andrew Gray, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Ingrid Melander, Benoit Van Overstraeten. Editing by Alexander Ratz, editing by Sabine Wollrab. For further questions, please contact our editorial team at [email protected])
Bonus Content:
- The 3.5% by 2035 goal is part of a broader plan to enhance defense capabilities in response to global security challenges[1][2].
- As of 2023, 22 of the 30 NATO member countries have met or are nearing the 2% GDP target[1].
- The next NATO summit, set for June 24-25, 2025, in The Hague, will likely address spending targets and defense readiness improvements[1].
In the broader plan to enhance defense capabilities, the 3.5% GDP spending goal by 2035 is a significant part of the policy-and-legislation discussions in the politics sphere. The actual goal, however, transcends the current 5% defense spending demand, as the alliance aims to achieve a new target by 2035, well beyond the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague.
