NATO: Allies to increase defense spending by 18% in 2024
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced that NATO members will increase their defense spending by 18% this year.
On Monday, US President Joe Biden received the NATO secretary-general at the White House.
During their meeting, Biden and Stoltenberg made brief remarks to reporters.
Biden told Stoltenberg, “Together we prevent Russian attacks in Europe”.
Stoltenberg said they would celebrate the alliance’s 75th anniversary at a NATO summit in Washington in July and make important decisions for the future.
“NATO allies will increase their defense spending by 18% this year, the biggest increase in recent years”.
He said 23 NATO member states would spend 2% or more of their gross domestic product on defense.
He stressed that the number of countries spending 2% doubled compared to 4 years ago, and this shows that European allies and Canada contribute to sharing common burdens to protect all allies.
Stoltenberg said the alliance would decide to play a leading role in providing security assistance to Ukraine during the NATO summit.
“The stronger our support for Ukraine, the faster this war will end,” he said.
