Image: APA/AFP/JOHN THYS
Years ago, the NATO countries committed themselves to investing two percent of their economic output in armaments. This year, 18 of the 31 NATO members would achieve this target, said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday at a press conference before the meeting of the alliance’s defense ministers in Brussels.
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560 billion euros for defense
Overall, NATO countries’ defense spending would be $600 billion (€560 billion). That’s an increase of eleven percent, said Stoltenberg. According to the Norwegian, the expenditure of the European partners amounts to 380 billion dollars (355 billion euros). Stoltenberg urged the 13 other NATO countries to quickly fulfill their obligations.
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France, Spain, Belgium, Turkey and Canada are reportedly among the defaulters. Stoltenberg avoided listing the countries. However, he recalled the summit decision from last year, according to which all member states of the alliance wanted to increase their defense spending. “These two percent are the minimum,” emphasized the Norwegian.
Record value in Germany
According to diplomats, Germany is among the countries achieving the goal for the first time since the end of the Cold War. According to the dpa news agency, the German government submitted an amount for the current year that, when converted into comparative figures from the defense alliance, corresponds to a sum of 73.41 billion dollars. In absolute terms, this is a record value for Germany and, according to the current NATO forecast, would mean a GDP ratio of 2.01 percent. With this significant increase in defense spending, Germany is reacting in particular to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
No European atomic bomb
The NATO Secretary General also spoke out against an additional nuclear deterrent system in Europe. “We have NATO’s nuclear deterrent, and this has provided NATO allies with the ultimate security guarantees for decades.” It is important to ensure that the functioning system remains safe and reliable, said Stoltenberg.
Its credibility should not be undermined. The core of nuclear deterrence should therefore remain the US nuclear weapons stationed in Europe, in whose use countries like Germany could also be involved through the concept of “nuclear participation”.
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Source: Nachrichten
