NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Wednesday 21 October that the Europeans and Canada, for the sixth consecutive year, had increased their defence spending by 4.3%.
“We expect this trend to continue. The Allies are also investing more in major capabilities and continue to contribute to our missions and operations”, he told the media.
Ten of the 30 Allies will reach the 2% target in 2020, compared to three last year. They are the United States (3.87% of GDP), Greece (2.58%), the United Kingdom (2.43%), Romania and Estonia (2.38%), Latvia (2.32%), Poland (2.30%), Lithuania (2.28%), France (2.11%) and Norway (2.03%).
Germany, Spain and Belgium are still lagging behind, with 1.57%, 1.16% and 1.10% of their GDP devoted to defence spending respectively. Luxembourg brings up the rear of the Allied march, with only 0.64%.
Since coming to power, American President Donald Trump has made respect for the 2% level a hobby horse. “Fairer” burden sharing will be one of the topics discussed at the meeting of NATO Defence Ministers on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 October by videoconference.
Ministers will also discuss strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defence posture, “including the response to Russia’s missile challenge, which is growing in scope and complexity”, Stoltenberg said.
Towards a new START agreement
The Allies could consider the future of the new START agreement between the United States and Russia, which expires in February 2021. According to the American Ambassador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison, the two sides are close to an agreement. “We are encouraged by the fact that we are very close to an agreement”, she told the media. She said the agreement would include a one-year freeze on nuclear warheads, a “verifiable” freeze, and a one-year extension of the new START agreement to allow for the negotiation of a new long-term agreement. “The Allies support the extension of the new START agreement between the United States and Russia (...) because we must not end up in a situation where we do not have a treaty governing the number of nuclear weapons”, Stoltenberg said.
A new space centre
At their meeting, the Allies are also expected to agree on the creation of a new NATO Space Centre within the Allied Air Command in Ramstein, Germany. “This centre will be a focal point for supporting NATO’s missions with satellite communications and imagery, for sharing information on potential threats to satellites, and for coordinating our activities in this crucial area”, the Secretary General explained. He cautioned that the Alliance’s goal is not to militarise space, but to increase its awareness of the challenges of space and its ability to address them.
Societal resilience
The resilience of societies will also be discussed by ministers, who will receive a report assessing vulnerabilities across the Alliance, for example in areas such as access to civilian infrastructure for military forces in times of crisis or conflict, according to Stoltenberg. They will discuss how the Alliance’s commitment to resilience can be strengthened in preparation for next year’s NATO Summit.
Afghanistan and Iraq
Finally, on Friday, the meeting will focus on NATO’s training missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to Stoltenberg, NATO may decide to intensify its training mission in Iraq and to enhance its support in full coordination with the Iraqi government and the International Coalition to defeat the Organization of Islamic States.
See the report on defence spending: https://bit.ly/3o7S93P (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)