With his summit in The Hague on June 24 and 25 expected with great interest, the foreign ministers of the Member States met in Brussels, setting ambitious goals, while the Alliance Secretary-General gave the mark, referring to the need for 5% of his 5% increase.
The Route’s proposal
More specifically, it will include “a total investment plan that will amount to 5% of GDP in defense investments. 3.5% of GDP will concern basic defense spending, which is based on the cost of achieving the new objectives of ministers and 1.5% of GDP per year in defense and security -related investments, especially in infrastructure and industry.
Mark Rutte avoided confirming whether the deadline for achieving these goals would be in 2032, but stressed that NATO member states would commit “to observe the annual plans indicating the increase in every objective in order to ensure the achievement of the new 5% of GDP.
For his part, US Secretary of Defense Pitt Hegschez insisted on the goal of raising defense spending to 5%. “We believe that consensus is close or even that we are close to consensus for a 5% commitment to NATO in The Hague later this month,” he said after the summit was completed.
The countries that disagree
And its success is considered to be crucial to the future of the alliance, but there are Member States that do not appear to embrace its proposals, which raises questions about the achievement of the coveted consensus.
First of all, Spain, whose attitude is the subject of discussions, with the US Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, answering a question, saying that “we work with all our allies to agree on this defensive commitment to Hagi.”
In addition, Italy is also difficult to reach 5%, while both countries do not have enough arguments against their public opinion to persuade this necessity, as they do not face immediate threats, such as the NATO Eastern Wing countries. The same is true of small member states of the Alliance, such as Luxembourg or Belgium.
The Trump – Mertz Meeting
At the same time, the German Chancellor met for the first time after climbing the office, with US President Donald Trump in Washington, while even convinced that the US would remain in NATO, although it also said that it was not in the US government.
Referring to the content of his talks in Washington, the Chancellor told the US president that “the US needs partners in the world and Europeans are the right partners to meet global challenges”. This is the difference between authoritarian regimes and democracies, said Friedrich Mertz, “authoritarian regimes have subordinate, democracies have partners.”
The anti -aircraft capabilities
Another issue of concern to the members of the North Atlantic Alliance is that of land anti -aircraft potential, with Member States being called upon to fivefold them. Specifically, the target concerns all European Member States, with different levels by country.
The need to strengthen the territorial air defense is considered a sailor as it is about protection against drones, missiles and new generation fighter aircraft. According to sources through the Alliance, what emerges is that NATO countries had downgraded the relevant investments over the last three decades, as they had turned to shipments outside Europe, mainly in the Middle East and North Africa, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine changing this equation.
Concerning the strengthening of air defense, in particular, Chancellor Mertz appears to be determined to accelerate the country’s military support and invest billions of euros in additional anti -aircraft systems, as provided by the European Sky Shield initiative launched. And this issue is expected to be raised on the table at the Hague summit.
