BRUSSELS — NATO defense ministers are set to meet in Brussels on Thursday to discuss military spending and other security priorities, as pressure mounts within the alliance to significantly raise national defense budgets amid ongoing tensions with Russia.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has floated a proposal for alliance members to commit to spending 3.5 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2032, along with an additional 1.5 percent on broader security-related items. The combined 5 percent goal is seen as a nod to demands by President Trump, who is expected to attend the alliance’s summit in The Hague later this month.
Currently, 22 of NATO’s 32 member states meet the alliance’s longstanding benchmark of allocating 2 percent of GDP to defense. However, many leaders now argue that the 2 percent figure is outdated, particularly in light of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has upended European security assumptions.
No NATO member currently meets the 5 percent threshold. The United States, by NATO’s own accounting, spends approximately 3.2 percent of its GDP on defense, while Poland allocates the largest share among members, at more than 4 percent.
NATO leaders are expected to finalize new defense spending commitments during the June 24–25 summit in The Hague, where burden-sharing and long-term deterrence strategies are set to dominate the agenda.
