a Telegraph According to reports, if Donald Trump is elected, NATO member states' defense spending will increase to 3 percent of GDP. According to the former president, member states should be asked to contribute more to the collective defense of the alliance in light of the threats posed by Russia and China.
Trump believes that accounting rules should be changed so that spending on military aid to Ukraine is not included in defense spending. This means that many member states will not even reach the 2% spending rate.
According to a source close to Trump, Trump had been thinking about calling for a spending increase for some time, and his meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda convinced him to do so.
The meeting between Trump and Duda was also said to be key in not opposing the long-awaited $60 billion aid package for Kiev. The Republican politician, who is fighting for his election, has repeatedly threatened member states to withdraw US support from allies if they do not increase their defense spending.
Hungary is already doing well
Last year, only 11 of the 32 member states were able to achieve the 2% target. Next to Great Britain and the United States in terms of GDP
- Poland,
- Greece,
- estonia,
- lithuania,
- finland,
- latvia,
- Hungary,
- Slovakia and
- Denmark spent the most.
Luxembourg, which has the smallest defense budget, spent just 1%, while Belgium and Spain spent only 1.2%.
Last year, Hungary slightly exceeded the spending rate of 2 percent.
Only Poland, the United States and Greece reached the three percent level. The Polish President argued the possibility of direct confrontation with Russia in favor of increasing costs.
Negotiations are already underway
Timo Pesonen, a senior EU defense official, said some member states were already negotiating the 3% target behind closed doors. The UK spent 2.28 per cent of GDP on defense in 2023, and plans to increase spending to 2.32 per cent in the 2024-2025 budget year.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that Britain's spending will rise to 2.5% of GDP by the end of the decade, a total increase of £75 billion. If the British Labor Party wins the elections, it will not fulfill Sunak's promise.
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