Nato ministers to discuss defence spending hike before key summit
Nato defence ministers gathered in Brussels on Thursday to discuss how to meet US President Donald Trump's demand for significant increases in spending, less than three weeks before a key summit of the alliance in The Hague.
Trump has said Nato allies should boost investment in defence to 5% of GDP, up from the target of 2%.
Diplomats say the European allies understand that hiking defence expenditure is the price of ensuring a continued US commitment to the continent's security and that keeping America on board means allowing Trump to be able to declare a win on his 5% demand during the summit, scheduled for June 24-25.
'We have to go further and we have to go faster,' Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte told reporters on Wednesday. 'A new defence investment plan will be at the heart of the Nato summit in The Hague.'
In a bid to meet Trump's 5% goal, Rutte has proposed alliance members boost defence spending to 3.5% of GDP and commit a further 1.5% to broader security-related spending, Reuters has reported.
Details of the new investment plan will probably continue to be negotiated until the eve of the Nato summit.
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