NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that in 2024, defense spending by NATO member countries in Europe and Canada increased by 20% compared to the previous year. He shared this information in response to a request from Reuters regarding the latest data on military expenditures.
Rutte highlighted that, according to NATO’s calculations, defense spending continues to rise. Specifically, in 2024, the growth was 20%, leading to an increase in total additional investments from $640 billion to $700 billion.
The NATO Secretary General expressed hope for a productive discussion on increasing defense spending at the upcoming meeting of NATO defense ministers next week.
It is also worth noting that NATO countries are under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who throughout his first term called for higher defense spending.
Recently, Trump suggested that the alliance should increase the defense spending target to 5% of GDP, instead of the current 2%. While some countries, such as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland, supported this demand, others, like Germany, considered the 5% figure unachievable.
