The US president has said NATO allies should boost investment in defence to 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), up from the current target of 2 percent.
“To be an alliance, you got to be more than flags. You got to be formations. You got to be more than conferences. You need to be, keep combat-ready capabilities,” Hegseth stated as he arrived for a meeting of defence ministers in Brussels on Thursday.
“We’re here to continue the work that President Trump started, which is a commitment to 5 percent defence spending across this alliance, which we think will happen,” Hegseth continued, adding: “It has to happen by the summit at The Hague later this month.”
In an attempt to compromise with the new target, NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte has proposed that members of the military alliance boost defence spending to 3.5 percent of GDP and commit a further 1.5 percent to broader security-related spending.
“We have to go further and we have to go faster,” Rutte told reporters on Wednesday.
“A new defence investment plan will be at the heart of the NATO summit in The Hague,” he added.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, European NATO members have been steadily increasing their defence spending.
Diplomats have said that countries are attempting to negotiate the timeline to achieve the 5 percent target.
Rutte has proposed reaching the target by 2032, which some countries consider too late, while others think it’s unrealistic, considering current spending and industrial production levels.
Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene stated on Wednesday that the 2032 target was “definitely too late, and pushed for a target of 2030 at the latest.
Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson told reporters on Thursday that Stockholm also wants to see the bloc reach the 5 percent target by 2030.
Meanwhile, NATO officials have estimated that, on average, meeting the new targets would cost countries between 3.5 and 3.7 percent of GDP.
