The NATO member nations have pledged to lift the defence spending to 5% of the GDP. The paragraph has been added to the final declaration of the alliance summit, which is taking place in The Hague. Members of the alliance agreed to reach the spending level of 5% by 2035.
The increase in defence spending was insisted on by US President Donald Trump. He has repeatedly hinted at Washington’s withdrawal from the alliance if European countries do not spend more. Europe agreed to increase spending, but for a long time called the 5% figure too high.
So far, NATO countries have had to spend 2% on defence. Until recently, eight countries of the alliance, the largest of which was Italy, did not reach this figure. At the end of 2024, Poland spent the largest share of GDP on defence – 4.12%. In second place was Estonia with 3.43% and only in third place was the United States with 3.38%.
The declaration also stresses the unswerving commitment to collective defence enshrined in the fifth article of the NATO treaty. ‘An armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all’ the document says.
