The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said in an interview on Thursday to Fox News that NATO members agreed to increase the defense spending up to 5 % of their GDP by 2030.
Rubio, who participated in an informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Military Alliance held in the Turkish city of Antalya, explained that they have “seen improvements” since President Donald Trump said in 2018 “the different contributions of the different countries” on defense spending, of which some allocated less than 1 % of their GDP.
“I can assure you that we are aimed at a summit in 6 weeks in which practically all NATO members will reach 2 % or more, but more importantly, many will exceed 4 % and everyone will have agreed to reach the objective of reaching 5 % in the next decade,” said Rubio.
He affirmed that for “first time in the history” of the block the “objectives and goals” that will allow “NATO partners will represent more than 50 %” of their participation in the alliance. «It would be a historical moment if it took. That is what foreign ministers agreed today, ”he added.
At the beginning of January, Trump expressed his requirement that the allies will increase their expenses in the military field to 5 %. “Everyone can afford it, but they should be at 5 %, not 2 %,” he said. However, no member of the Alliance, not even the US, has reached that percentage in recent years and several of them, such as Spain, have not yet reached the goal of 2 %. With RT
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