NATO countries agree to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense
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NATO member countries at the summit in Vilnius agreed to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense spending. This was announced by Secretary General of the military alliance Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference, broadcast of which was conducted on YouTube.
“Eleven allies have reached or exceeded the 2% threshold, and we expect a significant increase in this number next year. Allies today have committed to investing at least 2% of GDP annually in defense,” he said.
Latest estimates show, Stoltenberg stressed, that military spending by NATO’s European members and Canada will increase by 8.3% in 2023, the biggest increase “in decades.” Since 2014, additional investments in defense have amounted to $450 billion, he added.
At the end of last year, Vedomosti wrotethat the military spending of NATO countries will grow in 2023 by 13% and approach $1.3 trillion. The countries of the so-called cordon sanitaire around Russia will increase them by 60%. The US military budget for 2023 was approved by Congress in the amount of $858 billion. In December 2021, $768 billion was allocated for these expenses, i.e. an increase of almost $90 billion (+11.7%). In March, the Biden administration proposed spending $773 billion on defense next year, but the budget ended up growing significantly.
The NATO summit takes place from 11 to 12 July in Vilnius. It was reported that a number of important decisions would be made during the event, and the countries would also discuss Ukraine’s entry into NATO. In particular, Stoltenberg announced the speech of NATO countries with a unified position on Ukraine’s membership in the organization.
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