The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, advocated on Monday in Madrid for a constant increase in military investment and claimed that the commitment to allocate 2 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the defense budget «is not a ceiling», but «a threshold».
Stoltenberg participated this Monday in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and before representatives of the 30 allied countries he launched a message of increased military spending in order to better respond to challenges, as demonstrated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This issue will be central to the NATO Summit to be held next year in Lithuania, when it will be ten years since the commitment made by the allied countries in 2014 in Wales to reach 2% military investment in a decade.
«I hope there will be an even greater commitment to defense spending to invest more,» acknowledged Stoltenberg, who believes that «perhaps» that 2% figure will be maintained «as a basis rather than a target.»
The NATO secretary general said that, although negotiations are underway and must be agreed by all countries, his wish is that «the level of ambition is increased», especially in the current context of war in Ukraine.
SPAIN EXPECTS TO REACH 2% BY 2029 In addition, he recalled that the countries that are below 2% are already increasing their defense budget «because everyone has seen the need to invest more». This is the case of Spain, which plans to reach 1.3% in 2023 and reach 2% in 2029.
This was guaranteed by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, at the NATO Summit last June in Madrid and reaffirmed this Saturday by the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, before the Alliance’s parliamentarians.
