Clicky

  • Login
  • Register
  • Submit Your Content
  • Contact Us
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
World Tribune
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Health
  • Food
Submit
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Health
  • Food
No Result
View All Result
World Tribune
No Result
View All Result

Allies to agree to spending hike but will they deliver?

June 23, 2025
in News
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
Allies to agree to spending hike but will they deliver?
0
SHARES
ShareShareShareShareShare

READ ALSO

Oil prices fall after Trump says China can continue buying oil from Iran

Trump and the U.S. are totally committed to NATO, alliance chief says

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a bilateral meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (2nd L) at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, April 24, 2025.

Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images

Fireworks could kick off during NATO’s annual summit this week, as the U.S. pushes its allies to sharply increase their defense spending to 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP).

The 5% figure is made up of 3.5% of GDP that should be spent on “pure” defense, with an extra1.5% of GDP going to security-related infrastructure, such as cyber warfare capabilities and intelligence.

While some member states say they’re happy to hit that milestone, and some countries are not too far off that mark, others don’t even meet the 2% threshold that was agreed over a decade ago. While they might pledge to increase defense spending, whether these promises materialize will be the key question.

Talk is cheap and timelines can be vague — but concerted action is what the U.S. and President Donald Trump, who’s attending a NATO summit for the first time since 2019, will want to see.

US President Donald Trump arrives for the NATO summit at the Grove hotel in Watford, northeast of London on December 4, 2019.

Christian Hartmann | AFP | Getty Images

“The U.S. is looking for everybody to say, ‘Yeah, we mean it. We have a plan. 5% is real. We’re going to get there’,” Kurt Volker, former U.S. ambassador to NATO and distinguished fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), said Wednesday.

“But one thing to watch for is if the messaging is actually on point. Some of the messaging from some of our European allies, at least when they back brief their own media and their own parliaments is, ‘Yeah, 5% but it’s really 3.5% and 1.5%, and that can be pretty much anything’ … So there’s going to be a whittling down [of defense spending pledges] almost immediately,” Volker noted at a CEPA briefing ahead of the NATO summit.

“And if that is over emphasized, you’re going to have a clash with the U.S.,” Volker added.

High stakes, low expectations

The stakes are high as allies meet in The Hague in the Netherlands on June 24-25, given ongoing conflict in Ukraine and war in the Middle East threatening to destabilize the global economy.

Defense analysts say this year’s meeting could be the most consequential in the alliance’s 77-year history, with the U.S.’ spend-pushing heavily forewarned before the summit.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was emphatic as he said 5% “will happen” at a separate NATO gathering earlier this month, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also widely plugging that message to allies too.

German Air Force helicopters are pictured at the airfield of Pajuostis in Panevezis, Lithuania on May 6, 2025, during the Griffin Lightning 2025″ military exercises.

Petras Malukas | Afp | Getty Images

Back then, and arguably at the height of the White House leader’s irritation with the bloc, only six member states met the 2% target, including the U.S. Times have changed, however; by 2024, 23 members had reached the 2% threshold, according to NATO data.

While some greatly surpassed that target — such as Poland, Estonia, the U.S., Latvia and Greece — major economies including Canada, Spain and Italy have lagged below the contribution threshold. No NATO member has so far reached the 5% spending objective, and some are highly likely to drag their feet when it comes to getting to that milestone now.

Picture taken during a visit of NATO military exercise “Dacian Spring” in Romania, on Monday 12 May 2025.

Dirk Waem | Afp | Getty Images

The U.K., Poland and Germany have already said they intend to increase defense spending to the requisite target, but their timeline is unclear. The UK is also reportedly trying to delay the spending rise among by three years, according to the i newspaper. CNBC has reached out to Downing Street for comment.

Spain and Italy are seen as major holdouts against the 5% target, after only committing to reach the 2% threshold in 2025. Canada meanwhile spent 1.3% of GDP on defense in 2024, NATO estimates suggest, even less than Italy, Portugal or Montenegro.

Spending 5% on defense is a target, but not a given, Jason Israel, senior fellow for the Defense Technology Initiative at CEPA, said Wednesday.

“Every single country … is trying to figure out how they’re going to thread that needle of being able to make the commitment, but also make the accounting work when every single nation has to make trade offs against what is generally unpopular, massive increases in defense spending,” he noted, stressing it’s a “long way from commitments … to actual capability,”

Europe must commit

European aerospace and defense companies are following NATO spending commentary and commitments closely, but say they’re stuck in limbo between pledges and action by way of concrete government procurement.

The leaders of Leonardo, Embraer and Saab told CNBC last week the continent needs to act decisively and collectively to make long-term commitments to defense spending and investment contracts to enable companies like theirs to scale-up their production capacity and manufacturing capabilities.

“If we go for 3.5% [of pure defense spending] across the European part of NATO, that will mean a lot, and more will be needed in terms of capacity. But we need to understand the capability targets better,” Micael Johansson, the chief executive of Swedish defense company Saab, told CNBC.

Allies to agree to spending hike but will they deliver?

“We can do more, and I think we need to come together in Europe to create more scale, also in what we do to align demand, align requirements, so we can actually be competitive player in internationally. So there’s a lot to do still,” he said.

Roberto Cingolani, CEO of Italian defense firm Leonardo, agreed that “there’s a lot of work to be done.”

“Leonardo has a capacity boost program at the moment because we are quite aware of the fact that we have to increase the production of specific platforms, defense systems, electronics and technology solutions. It is not only matter of money, it’s matter of priority. It’s matter of reducing the fragmentation among countries in Europe,” he told CNBC’s Charlotte Reed at the Paris Air Show.

No problem having a mix of European and U.S. arsenals: Leonardo CEO

Defense companies needed to know what will be expected of them ahead of time, Cingolani said, given the complex nature of global supply chains that underpin the defense industry.

“We have approximately 5000 companies in the supply chain, and we are in 160 countries in the world. So it’s very complicated,” he noted. “You have to invest in supply chain. You have to make investments. You have to protect the supply chain. But of course, we also have to face a shortage of raw materials … There is no no simple solution. If there were a solution, we would have done it already,” he said.

Credit: Source link

ShareTweetSendSharePin
Previous Post

Tony Award winning actress Kristin Chenoweth slammed by NBA fans for Game 7 national anthem

Next Post

The best keyboards for 2025

Related Posts

Oil prices fall after Trump says China can continue buying oil from Iran
News

Oil prices fall after Trump says China can continue buying oil from Iran

June 24, 2025
Trump and the U.S. are totally committed to NATO, alliance chief says
News

Trump and the U.S. are totally committed to NATO, alliance chief says

June 24, 2025
Deutsche Bank’s CEO is doubling down on defense investment
News

Deutsche Bank’s CEO is doubling down on defense investment

June 24, 2025
‘Just a big show?’ Anxiety for Middle East after Iran-Israel attacks
News

‘Just a big show?’ Anxiety for Middle East after Iran-Israel attacks

June 24, 2025
Myanmar plays a critical role
News

Myanmar plays a critical role

June 24, 2025
Tesla robotaxi incidents caught on camera in Austin get NHTSA concern
News

Tesla robotaxi incidents caught on camera in Austin get NHTSA concern

June 24, 2025
Next Post
The best keyboards for 2025

The best keyboards for 2025

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What's New Here!

Tylor Megill struggles in Mets’ loss to Rays with rotation questions emerging

Tylor Megill struggles in Mets’ loss to Rays with rotation questions emerging

June 15, 2025
Bessent says Trump-Xi call would ease trade logjam — ‘I believe we will see something very soon’

Bessent says Trump-Xi call would ease trade logjam — ‘I believe we will see something very soon’

June 2, 2025
Author John Green has advice for Gen Z to ‘shrink the empathy gap’

Author John Green has advice for Gen Z to ‘shrink the empathy gap’

May 31, 2025
How Steelers responded to fans upset by Mason Rudolph at Trump rally

How Steelers responded to fans upset by Mason Rudolph at Trump rally

June 4, 2025
Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys visionary and poet laureate of summer, dies at 82

Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys visionary and poet laureate of summer, dies at 82

June 12, 2025
Apple might skip iOS 19, straight to iOS 26

Apple might skip iOS 19, straight to iOS 26

May 30, 2025
Mets’ bullpen blows five-run lead in brutal loss to Rays

Mets’ bullpen blows five-run lead in brutal loss to Rays

June 14, 2025

About

World Tribune is an online news portal that shares the latest news on world, business, health, tech, sports, and related topics.

Follow us

Recent Posts

  • Inside Ilia Topuria’s heavy UFC 317 gamble: ‘That’s a lot of meat’
  • Trump’s chip tariff threat sparks pushback from auto industry to tech
  • Oil prices fall after Trump says China can continue buying oil from Iran
  • New budget-friendly laptops from Acer feature NVIDIA’s latest RTX 5050 GPU

Newslatter

Loading
  • Submit Your Content
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • DMCA

© 2024 World Tribune - All Rights Reserved!

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Health
  • Food

© 2024 World Tribune - All Rights Reserved!

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In