The defense ministers of the NATO countries will discuss further cooperation with Ukraine and the ongoing expansion of the alliance’s deterrence and defense capabilities on Thursday. In addition, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wants to provide information about the development of member states’ defense spending at the meeting in the alliance headquarters in Brussels.
According to the latest data, an unprecedented increase in defense spending by Member States was recorded last year. However, around a third of the alliance states are still likely to miss the NATO goal of spending two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense this year. These include countries such as Italy, Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius emphasized on Thursday before the meeting that Germany will meet the two percent mark this year. “This is an important signal,” said Pistorius in Brussels. “Security doesn’t come for free.” Germany’s claim must be to be, together with others, the “conventional backbone” of defense. In addition, Germany is NATO’s “logistical hub” in Europe. “This means we are taking on leadership roles.”
France also wants to meet NATO’s financial target this year, a year earlier than originally planned. France will spend two percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense in 2024, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced. With a planned volume of 413 billion euros for the next seven years, the new military program law for 2024-30 has significantly increased defense spending. Originally, the budget planning did not plan to achieve the two percent target until 2025.
Stoltenberg confirmed that this year 18 of the 31 member states are meeting the two percent target of investing at least two percent of economic output in defense. However, NATO “still has a way to go” here.
The focus of the discussions in Brussels is once again the continued support of Ukraine in its fight against the Russian war of aggression. The newly created NATO-Ukraine Council meets at midday. Ukraine is currently lacking ammunition, and the Russian armed forces have recently made advances on the Eastern Front.
Stoltenberg expressed optimism that the US Congress would soon release additional funds for Ukraine. He emphasized that the Allies generally had to increase production of ammunition.
Pistorius promised Ukraine on Wednesday that it would deliver significantly more ammunition. For the current year, 3.5 billion euros are available in the defense budget for ammunition alone. Germany is expected to deliver “three to four times” the amount of artillery ammunition to Ukraine in 2024 compared to 2023, the minister said. “We will continue to increase capacity.”
2024-02-15 08:44:30