NATO Countries Face Challenges in Meeting Defense Spending Goals

Among the main guidelines set by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for its 31 member nations is the commitment to spend at least 2% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defense. This guideline has been in place since 2014. However, not all member countries have shown the necessary effort to achieve this goal. This lack of effort has drawn criticism and demands from Republican politicians in the United States, one of NATO’s major contributors.

At a political rally in South Carolina on the 10th, former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021), who is currently a Republican primary candidate for the upcoming November elections, stirred controversy. He stated that he would not protect his European NATO allies from a potential Russian attack if they were not meeting the 2% GDP defense spending guideline. His comments were based on a past conversation with a “president of a great country,” who was a member of NATO and asked if the US would defend his country against a Russian attack under Trump’s leadership.

Trump’s response was that he would not protect a country that was defaulting on its defense contributions. He even went as far as to suggest he would encourage Russia to act freely. This statement has reignited global debate on NATO countries’ defense investment, particularly in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which has threatened Europe’s security and stability.

NATO has actively supported Ukrainian forces against Russian aggression and conducted military operations and exercises to strengthen its presence in Europe. However, Trump’s comments have called attention to the fact that not all NATO members are meeting their defense spending commitments.

Despite this, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced four days after Trump’s criticism that he expects approximately 18 NATO member countries to meet the 2% GDP defense spending target in 2024. This is a significant increase from 2014 when only three countries met the target. Stoltenberg praised the “unprecedented increase” in defense spending by European and Canadian allies, which has added more than US$600 billion to their defense investments.

Stoltenberg noted that while progress is being made, some allies still have a way to go to meet their defense spending commitments. The aim of spending at least 2% of GDP on defense was formalized by NATO members at the 2014 alliance summit in Wales. The expectation was for all members to meet this target by 2024.

As of now, only Germany among the countries contributing below 2% last year has officially announced that it will meet the 2014 target. For the first time since the 1990s, Germany will invest 2% of its GDP in defense. Interestingly, this announcement came just days after Trump’s criticism of NATO members’ “default.”

According to 2023 data from NATO, only 11 of the 31 member countries made a sufficient effort to reach or exceed the 2% GDP military spending target. These countries include the US, UK, Poland, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the organization’s newest member, Finland. Most of these countries are in Eastern Europe, a region currently experiencing tension and fearing potential military threats from Russia.

Larger and wealthier NATO countries like Germany, Canada, Italy, and Spain are falling short of the target. Despite Germany’s recent announcement that it will meet its defense investment target this year, it only invested 1.57% of its GDP in defense in 2023. Similarly, Canada invested 1.38%, Italy 1.46%, and Spain 1.26%.

Regardless of these figures, current US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin praised Stoltenberg’s expectation that 18 countries will meet the defense investment target this year. He reaffirmed the US’s commitment to NATO’s Article 5, which states that an attack on any member country is effectively an attack on all, regardless of their defense investment.