NATO calls for 3.5% of GDP on defence budgets: Dutch PM
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof says the NATO's chief wants the 32 member countries to agree to start spending at least 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product on their defence budgets at a summit in the Netherlands next month.
In 2023, as Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine entered its second year, NATO leaders agreed that all allies should spend at least two per cent of GDP.
They are expected to set a new goal at a meeting in The Hague on June 25.
President Donald Trump insists that US allies should commit to spending at least five per cent, but that would require investment at an unprecedented scale.
Still, Trump has cast doubt over whether the United States would defend allies that spend too little.
Schoof told reporters that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has written to the member nations to tell them that "he expects the NATO summit to aim for 3.5 per cent hard military spending by 2032".
Rutte also wrote that he expects a commitment to "1.5 per cent related spending such as infrastructure, cybersecurity and things like that. Also achievable by 2032," Schoof said.
While the two figures do add up to five per cent, factoring in infrastructure and cybersecurity would change the basis on which NATO calculates defence spending.
The seven-year time frame is also short by the alliance's usual standards.
Asked at NATO's Brussels headquarters about his demand, Rutte said: "I'm not going to confirm the figures".
He said that "there are many rumors floating around" as NATO envoys discuss the new spending goal.
NATO foreign ministers are likely to debate the numbers again at a meeting in Antalya, Turkey next Wednesday and Thursday.
Rutte reaffirmed his public position that: "if we stick at the two per cent, we cannot defend ourselves. So we have to really increase defense spending".
Standing alongside Rutte, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that for Germany currently, each one per cent of GDP represents around 45 billion euros ($A80 billion).
Germany was estimated to have spent 2.1 per cent on its military budget last year, according to NATO figures.
But Merz said that NATO allies "also need to discuss infrastructure as well," including civilian infrastructure – roads, bridges, air and seaports – so that armies can move more quickly around Europe, and not just pure military spending.
It remains difficult to see how many allies might reach even 3.5 per cent.
NATO's most recent estimates show that 22 allies would reach the two per cent goal last year, compared to a previous forecast of 23.
Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain would not, although Spain does expect to reach the two per cent goal in 2025, a year too late.
Even the United States was estimated to have spent 3.19 per cent of GDP in 2024, down from 3.68 per cent a decade ago when all members vowed to increase spending after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.
It's the only ally whose spending has dropped.
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Schoof said he would offer the resignation of ministers from Wilders' Party for Freedom to the Dutch king. He and the other ministers will remain in office in a caretaker capacity, he told reporters. The decision means the Netherlands will have a caretaker government when it hosts a summit of leaders from the NATO military alliance in three weeks. No date for a new election has been set but it is unlikely to be held before October. Schoof, a career civil servant who was handpicked by Wilders a year ago to lead the government, said he had repeatedly told coalition leaders in recent days that bringing down the government would be "unnecessary and irresponsible". "We are facing major challenges nationally and internationally and, more than ever, decisiveness is required for the safety of our resilience and the economy in a rapidly changing world," Schoof said. 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"The prime minister who appealed to us this morning said that we are facing enormous international challenges, we have a war on our continent, an economic crisis may be coming our way," Yesilgöz told reporters in parliament. But just minutes later, the meeting was over and so was Wilders' involvement in the government. "I'm shocked," Yesilgöz said, calling Wilders' decision "super-irresponsible". After years in opposition, Wilders' party won the last election on pledges to slash migration. He has grown increasingly frustrated at what he sees as the slow pace of the coalition's efforts to implement his plans. Last week, Wilders demanded coalition partners sign on to a 10-point plan that aims to radically slash migration, including using the army to guard land borders and turning away all asylum-seekers. He said at the time that if immigration policy is not toughened up, his party "is out of the cabinet". He made good on that pledge on Tuesday. Caroline van der Plas, leader of the pro-agriculture populist Farmers Citizens Movement that is part of the coalition, said she was angry at Wilders' decision. "He is not putting the Netherlands first, he is putting Geert Wilders first," she told Dutch broadcaster NOS. Nicolien van Vroonhoven, leader of the New Social Contract party that has taken a battering in polls since joining the coalition and the departure of its talismanic leader Pieter Omtzigt, said the government could continue without Wilders, saying a minority cabinet "is definitely an option". Schoof's statement appeared to put an end to such a course of events. Frans Timmermans, the former European Commission climate chief who now leads the main opposition bloc in parliament, welcomed Wilders' decision. He said he would not support a minority government and called for fresh elections as soon as possible. with Reuters Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof says his coalition government will become a caretaker administration after populist nationalist MP Geert Wilders pulled his ministers out of the cabinet in a dispute about a migration crackdown. The announcement completed a day of political turmoil in The Hague sparked by Wilders' decision to turn his back on the ruling coalition. Schoof said he would offer the resignation of ministers from Wilders' Party for Freedom to the Dutch king. He and the other ministers will remain in office in a caretaker capacity, he told reporters. The decision means the Netherlands will have a caretaker government when it hosts a summit of leaders from the NATO military alliance in three weeks. No date for a new election has been set but it is unlikely to be held before October. Schoof, a career civil servant who was handpicked by Wilders a year ago to lead the government, said he had repeatedly told coalition leaders in recent days that bringing down the government would be "unnecessary and irresponsible". "We are facing major challenges nationally and internationally and, more than ever, decisiveness is required for the safety of our resilience and the economy in a rapidly changing world," Schoof said. Wilders announced his decision early on Tuesday in a message on X after a brief meeting in parliament of leaders of the four parties that make up the fractious administration. Wilders told reporters that he was withdrawing his support for the coalition and pulling his ministers out of the cabinet over its failure to act on his desire for a clampdown on migration. "I signed up for the toughest asylum policy and not the downfall of the Netherlands," said Wilders, whose Party for Freedom is still riding high in Dutch opinion polls although the gap with the centre-left opposition is negligible. Coalition partners rejected that argument, saying they all support cracking down on migration. Dilan Yesilgöz, leader of the conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, said before the meeting that Schoof urged the leaders to act responsibly. "The prime minister who appealed to us this morning said that we are facing enormous international challenges, we have a war on our continent, an economic crisis may be coming our way," Yesilgöz told reporters in parliament. But just minutes later, the meeting was over and so was Wilders' involvement in the government. "I'm shocked," Yesilgöz said, calling Wilders' decision "super-irresponsible". After years in opposition, Wilders' party won the last election on pledges to slash migration. He has grown increasingly frustrated at what he sees as the slow pace of the coalition's efforts to implement his plans. Last week, Wilders demanded coalition partners sign on to a 10-point plan that aims to radically slash migration, including using the army to guard land borders and turning away all asylum-seekers. He said at the time that if immigration policy is not toughened up, his party "is out of the cabinet". He made good on that pledge on Tuesday. Caroline van der Plas, leader of the pro-agriculture populist Farmers Citizens Movement that is part of the coalition, said she was angry at Wilders' decision. "He is not putting the Netherlands first, he is putting Geert Wilders first," she told Dutch broadcaster NOS. Nicolien van Vroonhoven, leader of the New Social Contract party that has taken a battering in polls since joining the coalition and the departure of its talismanic leader Pieter Omtzigt, said the government could continue without Wilders, saying a minority cabinet "is definitely an option". Schoof's statement appeared to put an end to such a course of events. Frans Timmermans, the former European Commission climate chief who now leads the main opposition bloc in parliament, welcomed Wilders' decision. He said he would not support a minority government and called for fresh elections as soon as possible. with Reuters Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof says his coalition government will become a caretaker administration after populist nationalist MP Geert Wilders pulled his ministers out of the cabinet in a dispute about a migration crackdown. The announcement completed a day of political turmoil in The Hague sparked by Wilders' decision to turn his back on the ruling coalition. Schoof said he would offer the resignation of ministers from Wilders' Party for Freedom to the Dutch king. He and the other ministers will remain in office in a caretaker capacity, he told reporters. The decision means the Netherlands will have a caretaker government when it hosts a summit of leaders from the NATO military alliance in three weeks. No date for a new election has been set but it is unlikely to be held before October. Schoof, a career civil servant who was handpicked by Wilders a year ago to lead the government, said he had repeatedly told coalition leaders in recent days that bringing down the government would be "unnecessary and irresponsible". "We are facing major challenges nationally and internationally and, more than ever, decisiveness is required for the safety of our resilience and the economy in a rapidly changing world," Schoof said. Wilders announced his decision early on Tuesday in a message on X after a brief meeting in parliament of leaders of the four parties that make up the fractious administration. Wilders told reporters that he was withdrawing his support for the coalition and pulling his ministers out of the cabinet over its failure to act on his desire for a clampdown on migration. "I signed up for the toughest asylum policy and not the downfall of the Netherlands," said Wilders, whose Party for Freedom is still riding high in Dutch opinion polls although the gap with the centre-left opposition is negligible. Coalition partners rejected that argument, saying they all support cracking down on migration. Dilan Yesilgöz, leader of the conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, said before the meeting that Schoof urged the leaders to act responsibly. "The prime minister who appealed to us this morning said that we are facing enormous international challenges, we have a war on our continent, an economic crisis may be coming our way," Yesilgöz told reporters in parliament. But just minutes later, the meeting was over and so was Wilders' involvement in the government. "I'm shocked," Yesilgöz said, calling Wilders' decision "super-irresponsible". After years in opposition, Wilders' party won the last election on pledges to slash migration. He has grown increasingly frustrated at what he sees as the slow pace of the coalition's efforts to implement his plans. Last week, Wilders demanded coalition partners sign on to a 10-point plan that aims to radically slash migration, including using the army to guard land borders and turning away all asylum-seekers. He said at the time that if immigration policy is not toughened up, his party "is out of the cabinet". He made good on that pledge on Tuesday. Caroline van der Plas, leader of the pro-agriculture populist Farmers Citizens Movement that is part of the coalition, said she was angry at Wilders' decision. "He is not putting the Netherlands first, he is putting Geert Wilders first," she told Dutch broadcaster NOS. Nicolien van Vroonhoven, leader of the New Social Contract party that has taken a battering in polls since joining the coalition and the departure of its talismanic leader Pieter Omtzigt, said the government could continue without Wilders, saying a minority cabinet "is definitely an option". Schoof's statement appeared to put an end to such a course of events. Frans Timmermans, the former European Commission climate chief who now leads the main opposition bloc in parliament, welcomed Wilders' decision. He said he would not support a minority government and called for fresh elections as soon as possible. with Reuters
