NATO chief says 18 member states will hit navy spending goal in 2024 | EUROtoday

Issued on: 14/02/2024 – 11:49Modified: 14/02/2024 – 11:51

1 min

“I expect 18 allies to spend 2% of their GDP on defence this year,” Jens Stoltenberg stated at a information convention in Brussels, including general navy spending was set for one more report 12 months as Russia’s full-fledged conflict in opposition to Ukraine is coming into a 3rd 12 months.

NATO’s European states would make investments a mixed whole of $380 billion in defence this 12 months, Stoltenberg added.

Berlin will meet the two% goal this 12 months for the primary time because the finish of the Cold War.

In 2023, eleven allies are anticipated to have met the two% goal in keeping with prior NATO estimates – Poland, the United States, Greece, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, Britain and Slovakia.

The new figures come solely days after former U.S. President Donald Trump shocked Europeans by suggesting that the United States may not defend NATO allies who aren’t spending sufficient on defence from a possible Russian invasion.

(Reuters)