NATO leaders agree to hike military spending

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP):

NATO leaders agreed on a massive hike in defence spending Wednesday after pressure from US President Donald Trump, and expressed their “ironclad commitment” to come to each other’s aid if attacked.

The 32 leaders endorsed a final summit statement saying: “Allies commit to invest five per cent of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence – and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations.”

The show of unity vindicated NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s billing of the summit as “transformational”, even though it papered over divisions.

Trump called the spending boost “something that no one really thought possible. And they said, ‘You did it, sir. You did it.’ Well, I don’t know if I did it, but I think I did.”

Spain had already officially announced that it cannot meet the target, and others have voiced reservations, but the investment pledge includes a review of spending in 2029 – after the next US presidential elections – to monitor progress and reassess the security threat posed by Russia.

The leaders also underlined their “ironclad commitment” to NATO’s collective security guarantee – “that an attack on one is an attack on all”. Ahead of the summit, Trump had again raised doubts over whether the United States would defend its allies.

“Together, allies have laid the foundations for a stronger, fairer and more lethal NATO,” Rutte told reporters after chairing the meeting in The Hague. “This will fuel a quantum leap in our collective defence.”

The spending hike requires each country’s to spend billions of dollars. It comes as the United States – NATO’s biggest-spending member – shifts its attention away from Europe to focus on security priorities elsewhere, notably in the Middle East and Indo-Pacific.

Spain had called the new spending target and 2035 deadline “unreasonable”. Belgium signalled that it would not get there either, and Slovakia said it reserves the right to decide its own defence spending.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stood conspicuously aside from other leaders in the summit family photo. After the meeting, he said that Spain can execute NATO’s defence plans by spending only two per cent of gross domestic product on defence.

“In today’s summit, NATO wins and Spain wins something very important for our society, which is security and the welfare state,” Sánchez said.