According to NATO Secretary General Jens’ annual report, only eleven NATO member states — now 32 with Sweden’s recent entry — will allocate two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to defense spending in 2023. Stoltenberg, published on Thursday, reports Le Vif.

However, Stoltenberg stressed during the presentation of his annual report in Brussels that for the first time European NATO countries taken as a whole will meet this requirement of 2% of GDP devoted to defense. – a commitment they all made in 2006 and reaffirmed in 2014 when it came to making it a reality in ten years.

During the last summit of the heads of state and government of the Alliance countries last July in Vilnius, this standard, which was considered a kind of ideal to be achieved, became the minimum threshold.

According to a report presented by Mr. Stoltenberg, the total defense budget of all NATO allies together increased over the past year by 11%.

In 2024, NATO’s European allies (30 countries, excluding the US and Canada) will invest a total of 470 billion dollars in defense.

Belgium is still at the bottom of the ranking, in penultimate place, ahead of Luxembourg.

“This year, two-thirds of allies will reach the 2% target, compared to only three in 2014,” the secretary general added to the press, as quoted by Rador Radio Romania.

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