NATO members expected to commit to 2% defence investment: Stoltenberg – National | 24CA News
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday stated he anticipated members to agree on a brand new funding pledge to spend two per cent of their gross home product on defence on the alliance’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.
NATO international locations must “commit more”, Stoltenberg advised a joint press convention with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa in Lisbon.
“I welcome the recent increase in Portugal’s defence spending, but all our allies need to do more,” he added. According to estimates within the NATO secretary-general’s annual report launched in March, Portugal spent 1.38 per cent of GDP on defence in 2022, a rise for the prior 12 months, however nonetheless beneath the goal of two per cent of GDP outlined by NATO.
For this 12 months, the Portuguese authorities plans to extend spending to 1.66 per cent – a purpose that was initially set for 2024 – and attain two per cent by the top of the last decade, Defence Minister Helena Carreiras stated in February.
Meanwhile, Costa stated that as a founding nation of NATO, Portugal “remains faithful to the values it has assumed”. The NATO chief has repeatedly urged allies to hurry up will increase in defence spending because the world had “become more dangerous” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine final 12 months.
Seven of the alliance’s 30 international locations met the present two per cent of GDP purpose in 2022 – one fewer than in 2021, earlier than the struggle in Ukraine – based on the secretary-general’s report.
Stoltenberg stated that on the Vilnius summit on July 11-12, the alliance would ship a “strong signal of support” for Ukraine.
“I expect our allies will agree a multi-year assistance program to enable Ukraine to transition from the Soviet era to NATO doctrines, equipment and training and achieve interoperability with NATO allies,” he added.
—Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Writing by David Latona; Editing by Alex Richardson and Alistair Bell
