NATO Defense Ministers from five member countries expressed on Monday their desire to continue increasing defense investments, but reaching the goal set by U.S. President-elect Trump to raise defense spending to 5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) appears to be highly challenging.
Defense Ministers from Germany, France, the UK, Italy, and Poland gathered near Warsaw on Monday, January 13, to discuss security issues and support for Ukraine.
During the meeting, German Minister Boris Pistorius emphasized their common support for securing a fair peace agreement for Ukraine. However, there are concerns in Europe that Trump may pressure Ukraine into making unacceptable concessions to Russia.
The meeting also deliberated on defense spending. Trump has recently urged NATO allies to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, yet currently, no NATO member has reached this level. Even Poland, the closest to the target, spends slightly over 4% of its GDP, and it is projected to approach 5% this year.
Several Ministers pointed out that focusing solely on the percentage figure is insufficient.
Pistorius stated at a joint press conference, “Merely having static discussions about percentages is meaningless if we ultimately fail to achieve the goals agreed upon collectively by NATO. In my view, the key lies in achieving the goal.”
He also mentioned that if Germany were to increase defense spending to 5%, it would require allocating over 40% of the national budget to defense, remarking, “I believe this would promptly end this discussion.”
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto indicated the Italian government’s understanding of the need to increase defense spending, but it must also balance the requirements for economic recovery.
He explained, “Increasing military expenditures during an economic crisis is more complex than in other periods. If we view the European defense industry as one of the ways to revitalize the economy, we can align both objectives.”
French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu asserted that these expenditures should not be solely allocated to purely military purposes but also to safeguarding society from cyber-attacks, terrorism, and other non-military threats.
He emphasized, “The current state is even worse than during the Cold War because we have new areas being militarized, especially in the digital realm. We live in a world where being invincible does not equate to being unbeatable, implying the responsibility to defend the country will extend far beyond military issues.”
Poland expressed support for Trump’s call for NATO countries to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.
According to a report by the Financial Times citing Polish Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, achieving Trump’s proposed goal “will require another ten years,” but he believes the incoming U.S. President should not be criticized for setting such an ambitious target, or else some countries will continue pondering the necessity of spending increases.
Based on data from the Associated Press, in 2024, NATO member countries’ defense spending as a percentage of GDP stood at 2.12% for Germany, 2.06% for France, 2.33% for the UK, 1.49% for Italy, 4.12% for Poland, 3.38% for the U.S., with the lowest being 1.28% for Spain.