NATO foreign ministers began meeting in Antalya, Turkey, on Wednesday as they rush to boost defence spending and satisfy U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand of a five percent GDP outlay.
AFP reports the two-day gathering looks to forge a compromise deal that keeps Trump happy and committed to the group just over six weeks before leaders come face-to-face with the president in The Hague.
Trump has piled on pressure ahead of the summit by insisting he wants NATO to agree to devote five percent of GDP to defence with promises already made, as Breitbart News reported. The AFP report set out what lies ahead for NATO:
NATO boss Mark Rutte has floated a proposal for allies to commit to 3.5 percent of direct military spending by 2032, as well as another 1.5 percent of broader security-related expenditure.
That would hand Trump the headline figure he’s demanding while giving enough wiggle room to European allies who are struggling just to reach NATO’s current spending threshold of two percent.
“Trump will be able claim victory and say that he got NATO to spend five percent,” one senior NATO diplomat, talking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
“In reality it will be more complicated than that — but that will be the essential political message from the summit.”
Countries most likely to struggle with that target include Canada, Spain and Italy, who are still only just limping towards two percent, the AFP report notes.
“This new Hague investment pledge or plan is going to include all of the capability targets necessary for NATO allies to deter and defend, but it also includes things like mobility, infrastructure, necessary infrastructure, cyber security,” U.S. NATO ambassador Matthew Whitaker said.
“It is definitely more than just missiles, tanks and howitzers, but at the same time, it’s got to be defence-related. It is not a grab bag for everything that you could possibly imagine.”
Trump has previously criticized the cost of the war in Ukraine for U.S. taxpayers through major military aid packages and made clear he wants to shift more of the fiscal burden back across the Atlantic.
AFP contributed to this report
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