"Must invest more in security": NATO dispute over defense spending?

Alliance wants to negotiate

Created: 01/03/2023 11:20 am

By: Christina Denk

In view of the Ukraine war, some NATO allies want to significantly increase military spending.

Jens Stoltenberg announces negotiations.

Germany is considered an opponent of the idea.

Brussels – Is Defense Spending Sufficient in Wartime?

In view of the Ukraine war, a new dispute over NATO's defense spending is looming.

In peacetime, the countries had set a two percent mark as a benchmark.

Some states are now calling for a significant tightening and minimum spending.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wants to negotiate and speaks of deterrence and defense.

Looming dispute in NATO: Stoltenberg advocates higher military spending

"Some allies are determined to make the current target of two percent a minimum," said Stoltenberg in an interview with the German Press Agency.

Stoltenberg did not say which NATO countries are calling for a significantly more ambitious goal.

It was also not clear whether he personally supported the demands for a minimum contribution.

NATO's current two percent rule

In peacetime, the NATO countries have set themselves the goal of increasing their defense spending in the direction of two percent of economic output.

It envisages that by 2024 all NATO countries should approach the benchmark of spending at least two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.

However, he made it clear that he considers a further increase in defense spending to be indispensable.

“NATO is there to ensure that a conflict like the one in Ukraine does not escalate beyond Ukraine.

For that, we need credible deterrence and defense, and that's why we need to invest more in our security," Stoltenberg said.

If you don't keep the peace, you won't create anything else and neither secure economic prosperity nor win the fight against climate change.

"As the world becomes more dangerous, we need to invest more to prevent war," he argued.

Stoltenberg expects a new Russian offensive on Ukraine in early 2023.

Demand for higher NATO military spending: Stoltenberg expects agreement in July

Stoltenberg expects an agreement in the debate at the next regular summit in July in Vilnius.

He assumes that all allies are aware that the war in Ukraine makes investments in defense even more important.

He is sure that there will be an agreement at the summit in Lithuania.

Before that, there should be ministerial meetings and talks in the capitals.

Looming dispute in NATO: Germany's spending is far below the required minimum limit

Most recently, Poland, Lithuania and Great Britain were the proponents of stricter measures.

Poland plans to increase military spending from 2.2 percent to 3 percent of gross domestic product in 2023, according to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Lithuania's Defense Ministry announced spending of 2.52 percent for 2023.

Britain's plans are still unclear.

Prime Minister Sunak supports increased military spending but has distanced himself from the spending plans of his predecessor Liz Truss.

It had announced an increase to three percent of GDP, reports the

.

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Germany, Canada and Belgium are considered opponents of increased military spending in the Ukraine war.

So far, they have been spending significantly less than two percent of GDP on defense.

For Germany, for example, only a rate of 1.44 percent was last expected for 2022.

According to a study by the German Economic Institute, even the recently decided special fund of 100 billion euros should not bring about a long-term improvement.

According to the calculations, the two percent quota of NATO, which now also includes Finland and Sweden, could only be achieved with the money in 2024 and 2025.

According to previous financial plans and growth forecasts, the share in GDP could fall back to 1.8 and 1.2 percent in the two following years.

Germany's Defense Minister Lambrecht was criticized for a New Year's video after criticizing military spending on New Year's Eve.

The Union demands her resignation.