British Foreign Minister David Cameron has urged NATO members to meet their commitment to spending 2% of their GDP on defense. According to DPA, he sees this as the best way to prepare for the presidential elections in the United States this autumn. He made his case when his alliance partners met in Brussels.
Donald Trump, the most likely Republican Party presidential candidate in this year’s US elections, has been a vociferous critic of member countries that have failed to fulfill their targets.
“The most important thing we can do to enable the alliance to grow and strengthen is for everyone to spend over 2% of their GDP on defense. Many countries are doing this, but everyone should,” Cameron said upon arrival in Brussels.
“To be honest, this is the best thing we can do so that the NATO summit in Washington this summer will be successful. It is also the best way to prepare for the American elections in the fall, regardless of their outcome,” he added.
Currently, the United Kingdom spends about 2.2% of its GDP on defense, but Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt has pledged to raise that ratio to 2.5% “whenever economic conditions allow.”
This year’s NATO summit will occur in Washington on July 9, a week before the Republican Party of the United States has its congress, where Donald Trump is expected to be nominated as presidential candidate.
“With Ukraine getting closer to NATO, we must maintain the support it needs to win the war. Allies must spend more on defense in the face of ongoing Russian aggression and in a more dangerous world,” Cameron said earlier today.
Previously, the UK Foreign Ministry indicated that all allies agree that Ukraine will join NATO, and London will continue to assist the country on its path toward membership.
NATO leadership anticipates 18 of the bloc’s 31 members increasing their defense expenditures to 2% of GDP by 2024, bringing European countries and Canada’s total allocation volume to $380 billion (US spending in 2023 was $858 billion). NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced this on February 14 during a press conference before the NATO military ministers’ meeting in Brussels. Currently, 11 members of the alliance meet this requirement.
According to Stoltenberg, European NATO nations and Canada would spend 11% more on defense in 2023 than in the previous decade. “[Some] European allies [already] spend more than [2% of GDP]. But some still have to go this way,” he said.
On February 14, the German government informed the alliance of a historic increase in defense spending over the previous 30 years. According to DPA agency data, Berlin will spend 2.01% of GDP, or $73.41 billion, on defense in 2023. At the same time, the country’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, promised to surpass the comparable benchmark by 2024.
NATO established a minimum benchmark for defense spending of 2% of GDP in 2006, which was finally agreed at the Vilnius summit on July 11, 2023. At least 20% of these expenditures should be used to purchase new weaponry and military equipment, as well as for scientific study and experimental design.
Under President Donald Trump, Washington, which provides for more than 70% of the bloc’s military budget, began demanding tougher adherence to this threshold. At the 2018 summit, Trump encouraged allies to act “quickly,” threatening to lower his pledges. In 2019 and 2020, nine NATO members spent 2% of their GDP on defense; in 2022, eleven.
On February 11, during a meeting with supporters in South Carolina, Trump reiterated his promise not to assist “non-paying” NATO countries during a Russian strike. On February 14, Keith Kellogg, who led the National Security Council during Trump’s presidency, told Reuters that if Trump wins the election, the US will propose a multi-level system of reducing allied obligations to NATO countries that fail to meet their defense spending obligations.
A NATO study dated July 7, 2023, showed that Europeans and Canada spent 1.7% of their GDP on defense. According to the document, the bloc’s military allocations, including the United States, totaled 2.6% of its GDP. Defense spending reached or above 2% in 11 nations.
2% is Not Enough
France, Germany, and the United Kingdom together contribute approximately 50% of the defense spending of NATO countries excluding the United States; however, none of the three countries has adequate equipment and personnel to contribute to NATO.
In June 2023, General Sir Tim Radford, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the second-highest ranking member of the alliance’s command structure, stated that Britain’s place as one of the organization’s major countries could be questioned following years of shrinking its military. According to the alliance’s deputy commander, Britain just “clings” to its influence in NATO because its army is too weak.
Germany has recently commenced military preparations, whereas France and Britain rely on their nuclear arsenals for protection.
The Ukraine conflict has demonstrated that the military-industrial capacities of the three foremost weapon-producing nations are insufficient. For NATO to maintain a credible defense, even more than 2% of its GDP will be required.